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If you were wondering if Dave Matthews Band's Live Trax 40 would be special, the answer is obviously yes. Let's take a look at what this release has under the hood.

Right off the bat... James Brown! If you're wondering how he even ended up with DMB, the answer lies in the opening act. Karl Denson's Tiny Universe served as James Brown's backing band. If you weren't around back then, the James Brown info leaked out prior to the show; not like anyone believed it however. So it wasn't a complete shock, but still, the Godfather of Soul appearing with DMB was stunning.

Live Trax 40 marks the first full band Blu-Ray release. By default, the audio will be 'better' than a standard DVD video. It's complicated to explain, but it just is. There's also a plethora of add-ons, including posters, t-shirts and an Encore disc. The details aren't out yet but it's from the 2002 winter tour. Please keep in mind that there is a different Bonus Disc for The Warehouse than the DMB store. So if you're a Warehouse member order via their site.

The pre-order is now for the latest live release from the Dave Matthews Band; Live Trax 39 on 10.31.98 in Oakland, CA. The most obvious is that the show was on Halloween, so yes, the band did indeed play Halloween. The Halloween is also very similar to the Before These Crowded Streets album version; a style that is not played like that live anymore. In fact, there aren't too many live versions like this one from Live Trax 39. The rare 'companion songs' Halloween and I'll Back You Up are both played. The latter features Joshua Redman, a fantastic saxophonist. He also plays on Jimi Thing.

Greg Howard, guest on BTCS, plays just about the entire show on Chapman Stick. That unique instrument is featured on the album version of Dreaming Tree, so once again you get a live version that sounds a lot like the BTCS style. The show might not seem that long on paper, but this was in DMB's more jamming days with every song clocking in around 10 minutes, so the band really shines on the solos. 1998 was a special tour, and really featured the band at the height of their popularity; it's not a stretch to say this is one of the best shows of the entire 1998 tour. We don't like to call anything 'must own', nor tell you how to spend your hard earned money, but this show is as close to that as humanly possible.

Those cryptic video teases now make sense. The official site announced that Dave Matthews Band will perform in their hometown of Charlottesville May 7. The show is a fundraiser for "Bama Works", the charitable arm of DMB and their management company.

The tease clips were part of a larger video ending in front of the John Paul Jones Arena, which naturally will be the site of the show. The show is also being pegged as a 25th anniversary performance for the band. The Warehouse pre-sale begins March 23, and the public sale is April 1. We hope to see you all there!

The popular 2-track recording series DMBLive is back with another great release. Dave Matthews Band cut their teeth playing weekly shows in Charlottesville at the Trax Nightclub. By 1994 the band was destined for stardom and outgrew their old stomping ground. The last full-band show at Trax was 2.22.94, and the powers that be chose this as the latest DMBLive. The show should be slightly familiar to fans; two tracks were previously released on the Recently EP; All Along the Watchtower and Halloween.

You can order this little piece of history right here. The entire show is pretty sweet; the Ants Marching has a nice little jam on the front of it that fans used to call "Funky Jam" back in the tape trading days. So if you're on the fence still about the DMBLive series, this is a pretty good time to jump in the pool and give it a shot.

In the 25th anniversary year of Dave Matthews Band, the Live Trax folk went way way back to celebrate the band. Live Trax 37 is 11.11.92 from Trax. The show is so old that both antsmarching.org and dmbalmanac had the venue listed incorrectly; as The Flood Zone instead of Trax.

The set list is fantastic. Early versions of Minarets, So Much To Say, and the only multi-track recording of Spotlight are gems from this one. Also included is Halloween, which debuted only 10 days before this show. This show is an absolute must-own!

Also of note is the swag. The poster is fantastic. The t-shirt is awesome. Everything about this release is pretty sweet. We're not telling you how to spend your money but at least click on the link to see what you're missing.

The popular DMBLive series has crept closer to the modern DMB era.
11.30.98 marks the latest full-band show in the 2-track DMBLive series to date. The excellent show - which also features a hidden
JTR tease - is an excellent jam fest. Opening with The Last Stop, with Bela Fleck guesting, and running through Warehouse in the encore this baby's got more hits than a Hall and Oates show.

I realize we say this a lot but if you're not on board with the DMBLive series yet this is the time to take the plunge and give it a shot. Excellent show, excellent era, excellent addition to the DMBLive family. Go download it!

Dave Matthews Band is performing the week of the Super Bowl 'around' the general vicinity of the game. According to The Warehouse, DMB will play in San Fransisco February 4 at Pier 70. Tickets go on sale via the Warehouse December 8.

The Fantastic
Blenheim Vineyards is back with their annual Painted Wines series. The 2014 grapes were perfect and the latest batch is sure to please the pallet.

As you can see by the design, there's a ryno on the bottle. This year, Blenheim will match dollar-for-dollar ever purchase made during the pre-order and donate that to
The African Wildlife Federation's rhinoceros conservation. So unless you're
C. Montgomery Burns with your snazzy slippers there's no real reason to not get your
pre-order on!

The Pre-order ends November 14, so order now! No seriously, now. Each order comes with a limited edition handbill, and there will be 20 randomly selected pre-orders that will receive the handbill autographed by Dave. Order Now if you didn't order 27 words ago!

Live Trax 36 is from the 2015 tour.
Alpine N2 is the latest in the Live Trax release family. The show - which features the triumphant return of Let You Down - is one of the best from the 2015 tour. The crowd was quite lively for the show as well - which included a Thank You performance that was sparked by fans singing it during the outro of #41 (should've chanted Last Stop instead but oh well...). There is a plethora of options at the link above to order, including a DVD of the show. The bonus disc is tracks from n1, and MAKE SURE YOU ORDER FROM
The Warehouseso you can get the additional Warehouse member tracks. That's how you can get that fantastic Captain from n1. You are a member of the Warehouse, right? Now would be a good time to join. Seriously.

Record Store Day is Black Friday. That's the day after Thanksgiving in case you forgot (you didn't). the DMB contribution this year is
Live Trax 5. If you dig the Vinyl camp out at your favorite record store and pick one up!

There are VIP packages, and then there are VIP packages.
Dave Matthews Band has generously donated the quintessential tour package for that American fan who has always wanted to jump the pond and see DMB. The auction - with details at the
Music Resource Center Facebook page, includes airfare to London, 3 nights at the Four Seasons London, 2 tickets to the November 7 London show, and an autographed poster! The value of the package is $14,000. If you can swing the swag, head over and bid. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Happy Auctioning!

Dave Matthews Band's Live Trax 35 takes us back to 2009. You may recall the highly popular tour - at the time considered the best album tour since 1998 - and the fantastic shows and performances that summer. LT 35 is one of the best from that time, 6.20.09. In addition to the Big Whiskey songs, the band played Bartender, a great Dreaming Tree, Stone, Pig, and ended the night with a strong Halloween. On Ants, it's the 2nd highest rated show of the 1st half and it's the highest show-flow set of the tour. So what we're getting at is it's great.

Also available is a new DMBLive - 10.14.94. This show was previously available in trading circles but incomplete. Well, not no more as the complete! And if you haven't jumped on the Get In Line bandwagon yet, this is your chance to get a fabulous show and hear Get In Line. The DMBLive is available
here. You can pre-order Live Trax 35
right here with some awesome swag like t-shirts and other stuff. Order today!

We've all seen it at a show, Dave starts strumming those familiar chords and the next thing you know he's sitting behind the piano and 11 minutes later you've checked your email 9 times and texted your mom. That's right, you just heard Mercy. The AntsMarching.org podcast made the case that Mercy is the least popular Dave Matthews Band single. But is it fair? Do fans have it wrong? In another fan-submitted column, Jeff takes a shot at
defending Mercy. Give it a read, and see if it can change your opinion of the song.

For those that keep count, there are a few "big venues" that don't have Live Trax releases yet. You can pencil through Deer Creek on your list. The latest Live Trax, Live Trax 34, is from Deer Creek 1999. The Pre Order is now. If you really need us to explain the awesomeness of this, we'll just show you the bonus disc. Are you sitting down? No, seriously, sit. OK? Here is the bonus disc:

1. Pantala Naga Pampa>Rapunzel (6.23.99)

2. Cry Freedom (6.22.99)

3. #41 (6.23.99)

4. Crash Into Me (6.23.99)

5. Say Goodbye (6.22.99)

6. #40 (6.22.99)

7. Two Step (6.23.99)

8. Last Stop (6.22.99)

Aren't you glad we said sit down? The bonus disc is made up of Night 1 and Night 2 of the 3-night Deer Creek stand.
Night 3 as you likely deduced is the actual Live Trax. As you can see from that link, the show is pretty sweet. Order today! You won't be disappointed, guarantee!

You recall the Gorge documentary we mentioned a bit ago? The Producers of Enormous: The Gorge Story are looking for a little bit of help to finish up the project.

If you have the means, there is a Go Fund Me page where certain levels of financial support elicit different goodies - from photos to an Executive Producer credit if you can swing the big money. From the link above, there's a teaser video that explains why they need a little financial assistance and how important you are to telling the Gorge story. So if you can, help em out!

The beautiful PGA National Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, FL has stepped up and is offering a fantastic deal for Dave Matthews Band fans around the West Palm Beach shows! Follow This Link to book rooms for the rate of $129 at our favorite hotel in the Sunshine State!

In the past, we have hosted official Ants Parties at this resort. Unfortunately, we won't be able to do that this year but it'll just like the wild times we had there before. Drink specials (they have the best Mojitos around!), food specials, and a live band. And all this right when the Summer DMB Tour is heating up. If you're looking to add a show or 2 and enjoy a fantastic hotel with a great pool, you're in luck, this is the spot!

Please note that the above link only works from PC's, not from phones/tablets. You can call 844-821-0028 to book and mention "Ants Marching." We'll update with the drink and food specials as we get em.

UPDATE: There are still a few rooms available if you want to make the WPB swing part of your tour schedule. Give em a call and take advantage of this great deal!

As you likely saw on Twitter, an Instagram account from a Viola performer leaked some sheet music from the orchestra additions to the Dave Matthews Band studio album tracks. There were three songs listed. The album thread is bursting with speculation. Here's what we can determine from the (now deleted) Instagram leak.

Don't count on the titles being set in stone.
We saw name changes in the last two sessions; Garden Hose became Seven, Skworm got it's correct spelling Squirm, and during Away From The World the naming of Big Things became Broken Things. So just because you see Bismark, Bob Law, and Here On Out, doesn't mean you should have them tattooed on your back.

Having a strings section doesn't mean anything.
Some Devil had a full orchestra on its eponymous album. It was removed (obviously). If you recall from the leaked Big Whiskey demo there was a You and Me version that was previously identified as "Stripped down". That just meant without all the orchestra, etc.

We still have no idea when or if an album is coming.
Dave said during a few different interviews that they are going to "road test" the songs. That means that some songs need more Dibba. Some need less Dibba. Lyrics and arrangements are still being toyed with - clearly. And don't forget that there has been no official announcement from the band that they're even doing an album. Away From The World had it's official announcement June 27, 2012 (with a September 11 release date), but it was announced as coming "soon" on February 15, 2012. We haven't received the "coming soon" announcement yet for this one.

The term "Hardcore" fan is loosely defined. The reality is that you are a hardcore fans if you consider yourself one. If you'd asked me in 2003-4 how many hardcore fans are at every show I'd say around 10%. In 2013 we learned that the actual number was closer to 25%. We realized that when we noticed a down-tick in attendance in correlation with fans specifically saying they were traveling less.

But is that 25% too low? Look around at a show. If there are 100 people surrounding you how many are singing along to Black and Blue Bird? Wouldn't you have to be pretty hard core to have that one down? Is 25% too low? A number bandied about this week is 40%, and honestly it's not a stretch to think that at a given show with 15,000 people there are about 6000 there than consider themselves "hardcore".

Not every hardcore fan feels the same way about the present state of the band, but we did invite feedback. And we got it. A fan with a lot of traveling under his belt has taken the time to write an 'open letter' style message to the Dave Matthews Band, and certain DMB members that are more vocal socially. Give Mark's open letter a read
here. You might not agree with all of it, or any of it, but then again you might think you wrote it yourself. But it's the voice of a fan who is willing to spend his hard earned money to follow a band around the country. Or at least he did.

UPDATE: We are all about balance and someone wanted to provide a counter to the thoughts of Mark. Ryan thinks that it's the hardcore fan over-analyzing DMB. Read his take here

We have been approached from time to time about publishing columns. The answer is always yes. So if you do have some thoughts, and they are written in a non-sucky way, feel free to email them away (my first name -AT-this website). One of our Moderators, Sean, came up with an idea of a running column about the tour. I asked him to wait a few shows to get a flavor of the tour, and by golly we've got a flavor!

The premiere column is here, where fittingly enough Sean discusses the first 4 shows, including the Arkansas show. Enjoy!

The Dave Matthews Band 2015 tour kicked off. To the surprise of some (most) {pretty much everyone}, the #2sets were similar to the 2014 #2sets. Making an appearance was the new song Black and Blue Bird. Also of note were Raven which only had 3 plays in 2014 and Water Into Wine which had 4 plays in 2014. Incidentally, we refer to that song as Water/Wine Jam in Tour Central because we're old school like that.

The tour continues in Texas on Friday and Saturday in Dallas and Houston, respectively.

With not a lot of time before the 2015 tour, the official site
announced that there will be special guests appearing during the 2015 Dave Matthews Band tour. Unlike the 2014 tour where people popped up randomly (and not randomly eventually), this time around it appears that guests will be announced ahead of the shows. The first guest is long time fan favorite Bela Fleck. The banjo virtuoso will appear at SPAC and in Colorado. So if you're not planning on those shows and you haven't seen Bela with the boys now is your chance to plan ahead.

a flier says that "DMB has invited a few of their favorite guests" to pop in this summer. So if they are announced ahead of time as Bela is, that's great. If not we can think of 3 reasons that could be bad. So keep an eye out and look for more guests to be announced. And we can hope they'll be of the Bela caliber.

Dave Matthews Band is heading back to David Letterman. The band will perform in May. That is David Letterman's last month of shows. DMB is touring in May - in case you forgot - so it will likely be on an off day. The other question is what will they play? You probably forgot that DMB is allegedly in the studio. And if you believe everything you read on the interwebz the album is done (it's not). But regardless the odds are that you will hear a 'new' song on Letterman sometime in May.

Remember all those times you’ve thought “Man, DMB used to do all those sound checks, and some really phenomenal songs have come out of them! [Resounding fan favorite Good Good Time was written during a soundcheck, then performed that night] SURELY they have some recordings of those tunes, if only they’d release them!”

Well, if you’d said that you are one hell of a psychic because that’s exactly what the Dave Matthews Band is doing trying to do. The latest iteration in the LiveTrax series (#33, for those who lost count) is announced and boy, what a doozy. Most of DMB’s two night stand at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (1.30.1995 & 1.31.1995) out there in Providence is being pressed to disc as we speak, and there’s a lot to talk about.

First, the good:

- The unreleased, unknown, totally-zero-info sound check jam. Sure, it’s last on the track listing. That just makes it easier to find. Despite the lack of any information I think it’s safe to assume it’s a pretty set-and-written-with-lyrics song that never saw the light of day. Think Mansfield Jam that wasn’t played during the show.

- This Jimi. It’s been called the best of all time. Yeah yeah yeah, I know. Jimi is overplayed. But keep in mind this isn’t a 2013 or 2014 era stalefest. It’s a young, still fresh Jimi. Oh, Roi plays a bit of George Clinton’s “We Want The Funk” in the outro. Just listen to it first.

- An early ’95 set has literally zero bad songs. They didn’t exist yet. And this release includes a complete set from the second night, in addition to a selection from the previous night to round out the second disc. For 13.99 you get 18 songs, plus that soundcheck jam. If that doesn’t get your heartbeat rising, you should admit yourself to a hospital.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any better, there is a new DMBLive show as well! It's also a 1995, and it's amazing. An acoustic set from 4.5.95 at the Academy in New York featuring the first #40 and What Will Become Of Me. This is one of the greatest release days in DMB fandom history.

You can order both and save 15% - and they're are some phatty phat pajamas you can throw in the cart too. The t-shirt is pretty sweet too; it has the set list written out old-school taper style. And for you sound geeks, you can get LT 33 in 24 bit FLAC, which is nice.

We're not going to tell you how to spend your money, but if this is the type of release/bundle you want more of, you have to speak with your wallet. Both shows are outstanding.

So, if you're not hip to the game, that's 2 songs that are Dave and Tim, with Stefan also on acoustic bass (Let You Down and Jimi Thing). This is the 1st Dave and Tim songs to appear on a Warehouse disc. The Jimi Thing also features What Will Become of Me on the outro. Butterfly was an especially nice version, dedicated to Dave's mom (she was in the crowd somewhere). From the 2014 tour, two songs that were gems of the acoustic tour, Pay For What You Get and Stolen Away get nice multi-track releases. Making it's release debut is Baby Blue; and this one is practically full band with a beautiful accompaniment from Rashawn. And we would be remiss if we didn't mention that Boyd shines on Dive In and Say Goodbye.
As always, the announce occurs way before the actual shipping, so it probably won't be in your hands for another month or so, but in the meantime just sit back and ponder the chill nature of the disc.

The Dave Matthews Band is finally heading back to Europe. For the first time since 2010, DMB jumps the pond to play some shows according to The official site. The European tour begins in October, and the band will be making its first stop in Poland while there. They also hit their usual run of countries, France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, and ultimately in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Additionally, the band will play an extra show in Mexico on March 16 (the day after the previously scheduled show) and for the first time DMB heads to the Middle East. On October 8, DMB heads to the United Arab Emirates for a show in the growing tourist Mecca.

The Warehouse announced the 2015 Dave Matthews Band tour. The
dates are a wee bit different than the past 8 or so tours. Of note, Hartford is down to 1 night (not surprisingly), and the deep south gets some DMB Love.

For the first time since 1994 Tuscaloosa, AL gets a show. Believe it or not, that will make the 9th
full-band show in T-Town. Tuscaloosa was part of the college-town run the band did in the early days. Iowa gets a DMB show for the first time since
2009, and Rogers, AR is a new stop for the band. This will be only the 3rd DMB show
in Arkansas, but the other two were in Little Rock and this one is way the heck up near Feyettenam.

Canada gets 3 shows, Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. SPAC gets the coveted 4th of July run and Alpine is back, passing over Chicago (woo hoo!). Warehouse Tickets go on sale January 15, the rest of you slugs have to wait around. See you out on the road!

The Warehouse released an email in anticipation of the Dave Matthews Band 2015 tour, and there is one important rule change; no signs.

Yes, there are a few other changes, including a payment plan to facilitate the multi-show attending crowd. Rather than shell out thousands at once to see a show, you can now spread the payments out a bit. Check with the Warehouse for all the intimate details.

But the big one is signs. For years, fans have groaned at signs held up at shows, but people do loVe to bring random signs. the new policy reads as such: Due to a new policy, signs, placards and banners with messages for the band will no longer be allowed at DMB shows. What does it mean? Well, in this exclusive breakdown, Antsmarching.org has learned that it means that signs aren't allowed at shows.

Unfortunately, glowsticks are still OK, so you can't win em all, but it's baby-steps. The DMB #2sets2015 tour dates should be announced... soon.

UPDATE: On January 10,
The Warehouse altered the wording to read,
To provide a clear, unobstructed view for all fans, large signs will no longer be allowed at DMB shows. We aren't surprised by this, unless you've been the one holding up signs fans have been complaining about signs for years. It just got out of control.

In case you missed the New Year's Day email from
The Warehouse, the Dave Matthews Band is indeed touring in 2015 (duh). And as was the case in 2014, the band will play 2 sets. If you need a refresher course - in 2014 the band played an acoustic opener and took a little (long) break and played an electric set. Fans were eager for the opportunity to catch some tunes in a new environment, but as the best laid plans of mice and men go, that didn't exactly work out.

Of course, the announcement is simply "2 sets" - not specifying one acoustic and one electric, so it's premature to completely bash the 2015 tour as a good idea on paper that shan't execute live (although that hasn't stopped
some). Until there's a bit more defining of "2 sets", fans can only speculate if it'll be Stolen Away acoustic, Minarets opener, and Good Good Time in the encore or if the mold shall be shattered.

Tour dates - if the trend holds - should arrive in the middle of January. So be on the lookout for that.

In case you missed it over the holiday weekend,
The Official Site announced Dave Matthews Band is heading to Mexico in 2015. The band will perform during the Vive Latino (or Latin Live for you Englishers) March 15, 2015. This will be DMB's first show in Mexico; they previously cancelled a 1998
performance. Tickets are available ahora - or now. So if you're interested in checking out DMB in a major festival (it should be over 50,000 fans there), grab your tickets now!

The Warehouse announced the next in the Dave Matthews Band Live Trax Series, Live Trax 32. The show is
Night 2 from Berkley, CA.

There are 2 add-ons; the entire show is available in a CD/DVD combo, so you'll be able to sit back and watch the show and the lovely Greek Theatre backdrop. Additionally, there is a bonus disc of tracks compiled from Night's 1 and 3 - 8-tracks if you're in the Warehouse. The acoustic set from night 2 is pretty sweet; including Rhyme and Reason, Ants Marching, and Recently. Lover Lay Down highlights the electric set; it only received 5 plays in 2014. The encore features the newly (greatly) improved Space Betwixt, fan favorite Granny, and Rapunzel. It's a nice show overall with a great acoustic set.

You can
pre-order now. And as usual there's some swag to go along with it, including an awesome t-shirt featuring Stefan's Set List doodle.

The age of vinyl is upon us, apparently. The official site announcedUnder The Table and Dreaming, the Dave Matthews Band first major label record, will be released in a 20th anniversary deluxe vinyl on November 24. There are a number of order packages, including a throw rug, t-shirts, and the usual suspects, but the true value is in the additional tracks.

The release features the original studio cut of Granny; that was one of the songs recorded in the studio and left off the album. Also, acoustic versions of Song That Jane Likes and Dancing Nancies are included. Those originally appeared on a radio-promo from 1994 and prior to that were on the often mislabeled Quad Demos and Rutabaga Demos.
Pre-order is now. So what are you waiting for? Pre-order!

The increasingly popular Record Store Day - where major acts release recordings on vinyl is getting a special treat for the hard core fan. According to Modern Vinyl, Dave Matthews Band's EP Recently is slated for release on Black Friday - that's the Friday after Thanksgiving if this is your first day on the planet (and welcome to you!).

In case you didn't know, there's actually 2 versions of the EP - the standard release that most of you have, and a 'radio release' which features a radio cuts of the songs Recently, Ants Marching, Tripping Billies, and Song That Jane Likes. That's usually called the "pumpkin Recently" by fans because it has a giant pumpkin on the cover and fans are creative like that. The blog Wax Poetic says that both Recently versions will
appear on the vinyl.

Obviously demand will be great for this, so if you want one find a local store that will have it and camp out; they'll go quickly. Happy hunting!

The first Best of What’s Around opener that we know of, a Dave solo Zeppelin cover, and a Two Step with a few rare interpolations? Well, you’re in luck, as that’s the next iteration in the DMBLive series. From July 28th, 1992 comes the earliest official release of the band, and the first release from their weekly appointments at Trax in Charlottesville. Also including an early version of Help Myself and Angel from Montgomery, which the boys have covered multiple times although nobody seems to be quite sure who originally wrote the tune, this set certainly has plenty to interest a lot of fans. Oh, and this one has the much loved Peter Griesar, so those are indeed keys you hear being played on songs.

The show was actually fan recorded due to the band's open-arms policy towards taping, and that fan recording is available on our Download Area. It's a good test listen, but per the recording notes, there are various cuts in songs and crowd noise. It's a testament to the band's devotion to taping that fan recordings of live releases are allowed to remain in circulation; if you dig this show, you should definitely purchase the DMBLive release. The increase in fidelity from the mastering done in production alone makes it worth it.

This is the earliest DMB official release to date, so don't miss the opportunity to hear the band in their infancy.

The Dave Matthews Band pulled a shocker - The "Lovely Ladies" returned to the stage in Massachusetts, joining the band for the first time since 2001. The crowd greeted the three backup singers with a refrain from #36, which prompted an impromptu sing-along that made the real-time set list (even though they listed it as Everyday refrain, which it wasn't). The Lovely Ladies guested on three songs - Long Black Veil, You and Me, and Stay - not counting the #36 refrain.

To a plurality of the crowd there, the Ladies returning was a positive. Boyd confirmed that they will be around for "a few" more shows. To fans that attended 1998-2001 shows, that's not exactly refreshing news. The reaction on the boards was... well, lets be kind and say mixed. On one hand, the odds of JTR or Best of What's Around increase. On the other hand, the odds of JTR or Best of What's Around with the Ladies increase. But to a younger crowd that was 5 or 6 in 1998, this is great news and a guest they never dreamed of seeing.

So... if you were there, you can go on about the 'had to be there' moment of the sing-along when the Ladies first took the stage in the Mansfield thread. If you're stumbling away from the plane after it crashed into the mountain, you can voice your opinion at the old Ladies thread that first appeared way back in 2003 AD on the site. Either way, this isn't the last time the Lovely Ladies will be at a 2014 DMB show.

And be sure to scroll down a wee bit after you read this on the main page - look to the right. See it? Yep, that's our latest poll. Be sure to vote, Yea or Nay to the Lovely Ladies returning.

You may recall a mention of a new Dave Matthews Band book coming to America soon - it is written by Corsina Andriano, of Con Fusion - the Italian DMB Fan site. The good folks over at DMBLA - a Spanish Language DMB fan site with a focus on Central and South America, recently interviewed Corsina regarding her book.

Si puedes leer Espanol, vaya con Dios. If you don't know a Cahahuate from a mierda chimichanga, you are in luck. There is an English translation available - and you can read that here.

The book will be available "soon" in English. We'll keep you posted on that. Because that's how we roll.

The general consensus is that SPAC is the first "real" show (or major show to those not trying to offend the prior venues) of any year of a Dave Matthews Band tour. With night 1 in the books, we can see how the show shook out.

If you follow that link, you'll see a little graph to the right of the set list; that's the flow trend of the show according to both the fans in attendance (red line) and those set list watching (yellow). The combined make up the blue line (ignore that red and yellow don't make blue, just go with it). The only songs close to the bottom are Sugar Man (an acquired taste) and Proudest Monkey . Even Space Betwixt in its current non-horrible incarnation is peeking above the Mendoza Line.

This show was one of the very few in the last 6 summer tours to not feature a song from Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King. How few? How about the second - (only other one was 7.17.13). And in case you've missed the general complaints from hard core fans, they're sick of Big Whiskey.

So... did SPAC night 1 give you hope for the rest of the tour and make you ponder adding a show or three? Or are you one of those haters that says "We'll get Jimi, Cornbread, Shake Meh, and Can't Stop tonight"? Has the band turned the corner with electric sets, and we'll see more of that to come? Is your band back™ version 4.0? Can every sentence in this paragraph end with a question mark?

SPAC night 2 begins around 7ish; make sure you follow along on the Ants Twitter, the Ants Instagram, DMBLive for live set list updates, and of course, set list watch on the boards. So your Saturday is pretty full tonight.

You may have noticed on Twitter (thanks to his constant retweets) that Jake is writing for Listverse.com - a popular list website filled with spooky, historical, and educational lists. Just like when peanut butter and chocolate first got together, he's managed to mix listverse and Dave Matthews Band together! Head on over and check out his list of 10 Original Versions Of Well-Known Songs and have a read and listen to Satellite when it was known as After Her. If you already knew that, just act surprised when you hear it. Feel free to click around on some other lists while you're there, you've got nothing else to do today (and click on Jake's lists... it feeds his ego).

As of this moment, we, the fan, don't know what the trending #2sets planned for Dave Matthews Band's 2014 tour will look like. There's been a lot of rumor, theory, and downright conjecture. The truth of the matter is we live in a society that likes the option to click on the "Spoiler" button and find out the info for ourselves.

We don't have a true spoiler, but we have a pretty good hypothesis on how things will shake down come the 2014 tour. Our very own "Arby" (not affiliated with the roast beef giant) walks us through some likely scenarios on how 2014 shakes out.

There is a new book about the Dave Matthews Band available, but it's only in Italian for now. Corsina Andriano, who runs the Italian DMB fan site Con-Fusion wrote a comprehensive book about the band. The book is being hailed as the most comprehensive on the band ever written (you can read an English synopsis here.

If you're pretty good at Italian (or just watched The Godfather so much you can capisce) you can pre-order the book here. The book will be translated into English "soon", but the English version is not available yet. You can keep checking back here and we'll update when it's available. Corsina really knows her DMB, so it's one of (if not the) most info-packed books on the band ever.

While during the summer members of DMB may be busy men on tour, they don't like to rest during the off season. Most recently Stefan's been writing the score for a soon-to-be-released documentary Stripped, a love letter of sorts to comic strips. While the film itself looks riveting (they even scored an interview with the previously private Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, and convinced him to draw the cover art for his first released drawing since ending Calvin and Hobbes in 1995), Stefan touched upon his bandmate Rashawn Ross and noted friend Mike McCready from Pearl Jam to lend a hand with the the scoring. This is not Stefan's first tryst with scoring films, he also scored 2008's documentary Grand Canyon Adventure: River At Risk. The film will be released April 1st on iTunes or on DVD April 2nd.

Not one to be outdone, Boyd will be playing a series of shows prior to his departure for DMB's Australia gigs. April 2-5, Boyd has been invited to play with Phil Lesh and Friends, the celebrated group featuring the former Grateful Dead bassist, at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY (just a hop skip and a jump away for all you NYC-area ants). Tickets are available here.

But Wait! There's more! If you Tweet out from the this DMB re-tweeter, you get access to two exclusive tracks; one acoustic and 1 electric! We won't spoil the surprise by telling you it's Grey Street Dave and Tim and So Right full-band, you'll have to figure that out after you tweet. So Tweet away!

(that means the latest DMBLive release is 3.3.99, from the 1999 Dave and Tim tour. If I Had A Boat, Wild Horses, Halloween, I'll Back You Up, and Stay (in that crazy 6/8 time) are among the notables. I think Last Stop was played too, not too sure... have to double check on that.)

We aren't going to focus on where or who didn't get shows on the 2014 Dave Matthews Band Tour. Lets talk about the structure of the shows.

DMB will play 2- set shows. The wording of the announcement is ambiguous as to the exact layout, but it appears it will be an acoustic set & an electric set (that's not set in stone either). But just the possibility of seeing full band acoustic songs should make you leap for joy...and tickets. Full band acoustic shows are very rare, so the possibility to see a few songs like that is truly a 'can't miss' opportunity.

If you were pondering a draw back in your tour schedule, welcome to the tour increase side of the isle. We will see you on tour!

The rumors were true (for once), and yes, Dave Matthews Band will have a new album next year (allegedly). According to
Rolling Stone DMB will work with Rob Cavallo on a future album. Dave has been in the studio off and on in November working on "stuff", according to the article.

Dave also heavily hinted to old(er) songs appearing on the album. So let the speculation begin! As for the fans, what does this mean? Well, to catch you up to speed, the hard-cores loved Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (Cavallo's first work with DMB), and then they got sick of it. So Cavallo is not as bad of a word as "Ballard" or "Baston", but those who complain the most aren't thrilled with it. Why? Well, in addition to "venue wars", we now have "producer wars". Steve Lillywhite's Away From The World did receive high marks from fans, and he of course produced the "Big 3" (UTTAD, Crash, BTCS), so Lillywhite is still god. Seems pretty unfair considering BWGK is a great album, and a Grammy nominated one at that (if that matters). But you can count on some producer wars coming up on the boards.

Here's what I mean. No one wants to hear what Rob Cavallo can do to Shotgun. Everyone wants to hear what Lillywhite can do to Shotgun. Isn't that crazy? So no matter what song(s) that are known pop up on the album, you will have 23 threads pondering what Lillywhite would do to them. It's not fair to Cavallo. (for the record I don't care who produces it, as long as Shotgun makes it).

Stay tuned for the next few months of rumor, speculation, flat out lies, and a few tidbits of real info regarding the next DMB album. And just remember, nay-sayers, you loved BWGK when it came out. No, you did. Don't make me show you your posts.

On the heals of the release of Dave Matthews Band Live Trax 27, The Warehouse announced the very next one, which is Live Trax 28 (but you probably gathered that). The show is from 2010 again, but it's a fairly popular one; Night 1 Charlottesville.

The Pre-Order is now, and as a special treat this Live Trax is also available on DVD! You can pick up N1 (which has a great Spoon, and the encore of Watchtower into Halloween is outrageous) along with the DVD and a special Encore Trax disc of songs from night 2. Those tracks are: You Might Die Trying, Proudest Monkey>Satellite, Say Goodbye, Song That Jane Likes, Why I Am, Granny, and, Last Stop

If you opt for the CD/DVD combo, the release is in 5.1 surround sound, a first for DMB LT releases. So it should sound awesome. And The Last Stop on the bonus disc is the best thing from night 2 (which truly was inferior to night 1, sorry), so really you're getting the best of both nights. If you're even wavering on this, order this for the Spoon alone. It's that good. Why would I make an incorrect promise?

VH-1 is hosting a Super Bowl concert in conjunction with the Super Bowl in New Jersey in the dead of winter (brilliant). And some inquiring eyes noticed everyone's favorite band pictured in the promo.

Follow this link and you'll notice a picture of Dave Matthews Band used in the VH-1 promo. Why would they use a picture of DMB unless DMB was one of the acts?

If you really look at the picture, you can tell it's from 2008. No, really, you can. Look at Rashawn on the right; he's a bit bigger than the slimmed-down Rashawn we have now. Jeff is in the picture too, so it's after June 2008. So did VH-1 just grab an old promo picture of DMB and throw it up there as "generic band photo" and did they not realize that we, the DMB obsessive-compulsive fan, would be able to nail the year of the photo?

Before you book a flight and get 50 yard line seats, wait for an official word from VH-1 or DMB. Or throw caution to the wind and take the entire month of February off in case there's a winter tour. It's entirely up to you.

UPDATE: It was pointed out that the picture is from the Beacon Theater 2009 (close to 2008, it was an early show), and DMB is likely part of the VH-1 Super Bowl Blitz. Over 6 nights, there will be 6 concerts throughout the greater Tri-State area. Stay tuned for more details as they become available, but at the least those will be televised.

Live Trax 27 is another foreign release. The Official Site announced 10.14.10 as the latest Live Trax, from Buenos Aires, Argentina. As with most of the non-US shows, the crowd is absolutely nuts; which makes for a pretty sweet listen. A lot of fan-favorites on this release, Grey Street, Ants Marching, Two Step. If you want a little taste of the show, the whole thing is up on You Tube. Obviously the mixed version will sound a hell-of-a-lot better, but that'll give you a taste of how bonkers the Argentinian crowd went for DMB.

Pre-Order is now, regardless of when you read this. So follow the link above and get yer order on!

Have you heard the latest rumor? Word on the street says that Dave Matthews Band is heading back to the studio to work on another album. And there may be some merit to this one. The story originated with Tim Reynolds canceling some TR3 shows in the fall, which led to a venue
letting it slip that Tim and DMB are going to the studio in November.

The rumor might not be that far off. If you're thinking of the timing of albums, with Away From The World being a mere year old, don't forget that DMB jumped back in the studio in 2006 after Stand Up's 2005 release. And given the dearth of plays this summer, it's not out of the imagination to believe that it's time for something new.

Are there other possibilities? Sure. Could be a solo album. Could be just a touch up of some B-sides, that only the hard-cores really want but that's another story. Or it could be a full-fledged album. So keep your ears open for more rumors and innuendos.

The Dave Matthews Band is heading back to the land of Oz. In 2014, DMB is headlining Bluesfest along with John Mayer (remember him?) Easter weekend (April 17-21). Great news for those down under, whom have not had DMB venture to their Wiggly neck of the planet since 2007.

It's safe to assume that it won't be the only stop in Australia, so keep your wallabies pealed for more shows. And more Australia puns.

UPDATE: DMB added another date, in Perth at the Blues & Roots festival. How ace is that? The good folk of Oz will be grinning like a shot fox come April 13.

The Dave Matthews Band is continuing their tour of the southern hemisphere in the late fall. The Official Site announced the band is heading to South America after their tour of South Africa. The band plays 3 shows in Brazil, and 1 each in Chile and Argentina. The tour runs from December 7 through December 17. As is common with South American shows, just about every one of em is a festival show, with some great music all day long. If you feel like heading down (or actually live on the continent) follow the above link for ticket info.

That also pretty much eliminates any shot at a fall tour in the good ole U.S. of A. So update that passport if you're jonzing for a fall DMB show.

The Dave Matthews Band has organized a social media campaign for their next music video. Rooftop is the video, which will be released after a certain amount of re-tweets/facebook thingies. You can facilitate the Mareil Boatlift of Rooftop by tweeting or facebooking from that link.

And no, that video is not Rooftop, as the title says. That's a little piece of music Dave's been working on that first appeared in his Tumblr account.

The goodly folk that create the DMBLive series continue to step their game with the latest offering: Palace Theatre, Albany, NY 2/8/1995. The show features a nice Pay For What You Get and a sweet little 1-2 punch of Two Step and Ants Marching early in the show.

This show, as with many other recent DMBLive shows, is one that was not taped by fans. So you'll be hearing it for the first time once you download it! That seems to be a theme with DMBLive; either high demand shows (like 4.7.95) or shows that were not recorded by fans (like this one). Pretty much a win-win. Download it and enjoy!

Fans have been asking about this show for years, and management has made it happen. The latest Dave Matthews Band release - Live Trax 26 - is 7.30.03 in Marysville, Ca, according to the official site. The reason fans have clamored for it is because it's great (duh), but it's also got some terrific performances. In addition to the previously released (on Warehouse Discs) Pigand Digging A Ditch and The Dreaming Tree (on the Central Park bonus disc), there is a great Jimi Thing which features Dave actually jamming on the outro, and a great little jam prior to that song. This show also features the first ever release of STD Her. And regardless of how you feel about the song, we should all be able to agree that Roi is really damn good on it.

The Pre-order is now, with shipping on August 2. Yea, that's a long way off now, but this baby should go over swimmingly with fans, so you might not want to delay too much. Additionally, as with Live Trax 25, there is a bundle offer which features a poster print and also a t-shirt. The poster is pretty sweet. I'm just saying, I'm not trying to sway your wallet. Promise. But it's sweet.

One thing we like to do is give a nod to an up and coming artist, since Dave Matthews Band was once one as well. If you've got 4 minutes or so to spare, give a listen to Jodee Seiders covering
The Space Between. It's from her latest work, Uncovered, which as you guessed is an assortment of cover songs (there's a few more videos after the Space Betwixt one).

If you're so inclined, give her a look at her Facebook page, and her album is available via iTunes. The girl has some pipes on her, and you can tell your friends once she's big time, "Oh yea, I've been listening to her stuff for years, she's great."

If you haven't been paying attention to the official Dave Matthews Band YouTube, consider this your heads up.

A video that popped up recently is Everyday, and it's awesome. Really. This is the version from MSG on 11.13.10 featuring Vusi Mahlasela. The crowd really gets into it, to the point where they turned on the house lights to see all the fans singing and jamming along. Look, even if you're in the #36 camp and not an Everyday believer (and I hear ya), give this one a shot and watch it through; 10,000 MSGers can't be wrong saying it's the best Everyday ever.

The Summer Tour Warm-Up series keeps churning out songs too, so feel free just to click on a song and let em play on through; there's a nice Little Thing into Seven (in the sunlight as the opening number), a great Raven, and really... everything in the Warm-Up series is a great performance. So click play and get you're listen on!

It appears Dave is heading back to his homeland. According to Channel 24 in South Africa, the Dave Matthews Band is heading to South Africa for 2 shows in November and December (30th and 3rd, respectively). You can actually buy tickets now, so this one seems pretty legit.

Of course, with all future tour announcements, we caution that before you buy a plane ticket and get a tattoo that reads "DMB SA Tour 2013", you wait for the official word from the official site. This would be the first time the full-band has performed in the birth country of Dave; he has performed a few solo shows in South Africa.

And in case you're wondering what this means for a fall/winter tour, you haven't been paying attention to the rumors. There's pretty strong evidence that things are afoot for South America and Great Britain in the fall/winter, so these shows fall in line with those alleged dates. Expect more dates to trickle out as the summer progresses.

Methane Studios produced a poster for the Dave Matthews Band Hartford Night 2 show that seemingly took a swipe at fans (or maybe not), but more importantly it features antsmarching.org!

If you look at the lead zombie (obviously... the lead one) you can clearly see the M on a button, with a small notch above it. That's the Ants logo! If you don't believe me, look up to the left of this page. You're other left... see! We want to thank Methane for the free publicity and to prove what zombies we really are, if you keep throwing our logo on there we'll keep buying them.

As for the controversy of calling DMB fans zombies (and poster zombies at that, which seems to be biting the hand that feeds them), the poster was originally designed for the Atlanta show as a Walking Dead theme (the TV show takes place there for those that aren't into Zombie killing). They re-designed that idea for Hartford and threw our logo on there. How nice! Here's an exchange from their Facebook page

"It doesn't appear to have anything to do with CT. If anything, it sounds like they're mocking the fans."

Methane:"Guilty of poking fun of you,me and half my friends"

So they are poking fun at you. And us. Really mocking. Really saying we're all zombies that will buy any stupid poster they make. But they mentioned Ants! Woo Hoo! We eagerly await the Ants Logo Collectors Series.

We don't specifically point out every great show of a Dave Matthews Band tour, but the 2013 show at Blossom was pretty darn nice. You don't have to be a geologist to determine structural differences between the 2012 and 2013 shows; there's more variety nightly in 2013. Variety is the spice of life, but not all spices are created equally. Blossom 2013 is the Montreal Steak Seasoning of shows.

The set list is a great mix of old and new; with new being the operative word. Debuting in a full-band show is the Dave and Friends song Oh, appearing in the popular Encore 1 spot. Getting a new name is the Mansfield Jam song, now known as Kill The Preacher. The show opened with a classic Dancing Nancies Warehouse medley, setting the tone early on.

The New thing around the message boards is to score a show on a +1, 0, -1 scale. The rules are kinda loose to the system, and interpretation is 9/10ths of the law, but the basic idea is that a song you want to or like hearing live is +1, 0 is a neutral stance to a song (take it or leave it), and -1 is one that generally speaking you don't enjoy. Using that scale, Blossom is averaging the highest score of any 2013 show. Go ahead and apply the +1, 0, -1 scale yourself and see what you come up with; you'll be over 13 for sure without even trying.

The popular DMBLive series from the Dave Matthews Band is back with a release from across the pond. DMBLive 3.25.1995 The Revolver Club, Madrid, Spain is now available. This show was not recorded by fans, and in fact the release is a bit of an "audience recording" - kinda; you'll be able to pick up the enthusiastic Spanish crowd singing along during the show. There's also a jam during the show, called Ole by the band, which is something you don't hear everyday. Give it a try for a unique, rare show.

The horrific weather being experienced in the southwest has effected the Dave Matthews Band concert. The DMB show in Austin TX on May 21 (or tonight if you're reading this promptly) is canceled, according to the venue. The concert is pushed back to Wednesday. This does not effect any other DMB shows; the next weekend DMB is at SPAC.

The Dave Matthews Band kicks off their 2013 Summer Tour in The Woodlands May 17. The band did a sound check last night (we won't spoil, or depress you depending on your disposition and some of the replies in the Texas), so things seem set to go.

For those that didn't catch the fall 2012 tour, it will be your first chance to catch the bulk of the songs from Away From The World. You can still pick up tickets for upcoming shows from the official site, so feel free to pick up a few shows along the summer after you realize that this tour is pretty good.

And as always, we have our award-winning set list game and you can follow along with the fans on line in the message boards for that show (check the tour forum), and of course there is the The Ants Twitter where we will have live tweeters from every show (depending on cell coverage) giving you a blow-by-blow of the show and the atmosphere. If you're not following the Ants Twitter, there's no excuse... unless you don't have Twitter. That's a valid excuse.

Dave Matthews is playing a Rockbridge guitar out on the 2013 tour, and if you're in the greater Austin area, you can go meet the maker! (make that builder... awkward)

Brian Calhoun built Dave's guitar, and other popular models of Rockbridge Guitars. He will be displaying demo models of his guitars, including the SJ (Dave's model) in Austin this weekend. If you'd like to check out his models, hit Brian up via email (rockbridgeguitar@gmail.com) and he will give you more details. Regardless of your skill level at guitar (from Smoke on the Water to Tim Reynolds on the guitar!) this is a pretty sweet opportunity to get your mitts on some nice guitars. You can also do the facebook thing for Rockbridge. Tell your guitar playing Texas-based friends!

It's better late than never. The Facebook page for AXS TV announced that they will broadcast the Dave Matthews Band performance from the 2013 Jazz Fest. AXS TV is the former HD Net, so you do indeed probably have it on your cable system, but you might want to check that before you settle down to watch.

The broadcast will air Saturday May the 4th (be with you...), so after you're done watching the Kentucky Derby and all sauced up on Mint Juleps, flip on over and catch DMB perform live-to-tape!

If you're not familiar with the downloading world of DMBLive, it's high time you got aboard the train. The latest release is 4.7.95 from famed Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke (or Dook for you haters) University.

The show features the very first #41 - which is more of a jam-like song at that point but still sounds like the #41 we all know and love. Also featured is the 2nd #40, which is pretty dog-gone sweet as well. The other great thing about this release, and the last few as well from the DMBLive series is that the sound of it is about as good as it gets. If you're not familiar with the "loudness wars", I'm not going to even bother trying to explain it (because I can't), just check out this post from our resident expert on the loudness wars rich chere and that will tell you 'buy this show because it sounds great'.

You may have noticed a thread that popped up on the message boards asking what you thought were the
best studio cuts of all time. That was a bit of a tease of sorts, because we had already compiled a list and wanted to see how the two compared.

We asked a group of fans that are in Ants + to use their expertise in listing - in order - the best studio cuts from the Dave Matthews Band. The criteria was quite simple: any DMB song ever done in the studio could be included. The results, as the "hardcore" fan see them, may not be surprising, but they will give you an idea of what fans that listen to DMB "a lot" (read: perpetually) think of the studio work.

So... how does the list break down? Take a look for yourself and see what you think of the Top 25 studio cuts.

The official site announced Live Trax 25, and threw everyone a curve ball; a 2006 show!

Maryland Heights, MO gets the honor of LT 25, which also was the first show of the 2006 tour. The show is Rashawn's first as a 'touring member' (or at least he hasn't missed a show since), and features JTR, Raven, and Steady As We Go. Steady is notable as it is only the third release for the song. Not too shabby of a show.

Of the 2006 songs - the ones that debuted that year - Sister is the only one on this release. You may also recognize Granny from a single-track release in late March. The show is remarkable for the high energy by the band as well - it's even evident in the Granny release (check it if you don't believe me). You can pre-order the show (along with a nice array of swag including a poster bundle! at the Official Store

Additionally, the Official Site announced a weekly video-tease featuring songs from the 2012 summer tour. The first video up is Don't Drink The Water from 5.18.12 at the Woodlands. And the video looks beautiful, check it out!

We at Antsmarching.org are perpetually attempting to better the experience for you, the fellow fan. One of our most popular destinations on the message boards is our
Ticket Forum. We get the fact that in order to see the Dave Matthews Band, you actually do need a ticket, and if you don't have em, someone probably does. We also realized that our ticket forum was a bit daunting to maneuver.

So we changed it all. Well, not all of it. But in short, we've made it a lot easier to try and locate tickets quickly. First, we have 4 moderators who have graciously volunteered to facilitate the forum; the 4 of them all have a lot of experience buying and selling tickets in the forum, and they will help keep the area clean and fluid (fluid is good). The easiest way to explain it is for you just to read the new rules. So even if you're not looking right now for tickets, peruse your way around and check it out!

Unfortunately, Antsmarching.org is not going to be able to host our usual party at the beautiful PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. But the PGA has stepped it up and offered a group rate and some other activities for those of you going to or thinking of going to the Dave Matthews Band West Palm Beach shows!

The PGA National Resort and Spa is offering rooms starting at $139 at their beautiful resort - and all rooms booked under the Ants Marching group rate will have the $25 resort fee waived. So that's not too shabby at all! The PGA will have drink specials Friday-Sunday (including their world famous Mojitos!) and live music. To book a room or two, you can either book it on-line or call 1-888-758-0945 . If you have joined us at the PGA in the past, you know the hotel is beautiful, and the pool alone is worth every single penny of your stay.

Again, this isn't an 'official Antsmarching Party' due to unforeseen circumstances on our end, but the PGA will treat you like royalty, and you're big kids, so we trust you to find a way to entertain yourselves there. Book now and enjoy the PGA National!

It's a busy day in the Dave Matthews Band news world. Shall we cut to the chase? I thought so..

DMB is playing a free show in Atlanta on April 7, according to the NCAA Official Site and pretty much everyone in the greater Atlanta area that already knew this was coming. DMB, Sting, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are the scheduled acts in accordance with the NCAA Basketball Final Four. The official name of the event is Capital One Jam Fest, which is a pun on music, basketball and what credit card interest rates do to you (couldn't resist). It seems that you just need to "show up" to see the show, but stay tuned for more info.

Record Store Day 2013 features Live Trax Vol. 1 according to the Wax Poetic blog, which is known for breaking news on vinyl releases. If you've forgotten what Record Store Day is, we'll forgive you. Basically, a bunch of big bands release vinyls (that's a real live record played on a record player, that were common back when us old folk were kids) and they are sold at (mostly) independent record stores. Please note that according to the blog, there are only 500 printed, so these will sell out quickly. You might want to check with your local independent record store that is participating in the Record Store Day 2013 event if they are getting in a copy before you traverse all over your neck-of-the-way looking for it.

You may be aware that Dave Matthews is quite the little artist. In addition to his works on the covers of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King and Away From The World, Dave doodles, and occasionally will do a larger piece of work. He recently got together with Beezy Bailey, a fellow South African, and produced 24 silkscreen paintings. The opening event for the display was March 5 in New York at the Robert Miller Gallery. The Wall Street Journal talked with Dave about his work, and slipped in a music question too. And in case you're confused by Dave's explanation of Little Thing, he most likely meant set-lyrics, as opposed to an instrumental.

In a move that practically no one saw coming, the Dave Matthews Band summer tour is officially on! Look, I'm not going to write up a big spectacular like last time, you already know where they're playing and when - so here's the shows.

These are the two important things you didn't know Friday, according to some new guidelines for ordering tickets:

Priority Show Selection
As a Warehouse member you will be able to select one show per tour for which you may be chosen to receive priority treatment for seat assignments.
There is no guarantee that your priority selection request will be confirmed, however seniority (every single year of continuous membership) will increase your opportunity to receive priority treatment.

Opt out of lower price levels
During the ticketing request period you will be able to opt out of consideration for certain lower price levels, such as GA Lawn or GA Rear Field if you so wish. Opting out may reduce your chances of being confirmed for tickets to the show if Warehouse inventory is limited at higher price levels.

These two points are very good news for Warehouse Members (told you it was a good thing), at the very least fans should get one primo seat for a show.

The Dave Matthews Band is appearing again on the premiere music magazine out there, Relix. And the goodly folk over at Relix have a special offer for you, the Antsmarching.org member! Lets just let them tell the story, they're better writers than me anyway...

We've got some news for you that might make you subscribe: Dave and the
band are on the cover of our forthcoming March issue. It's written by
veteran journalist Tom Moon who spent time with the band on the last leg of
their winter tour. You're not going to read a piece this deep and
insightful on Dave and the boys anywhere else. We promise you that. (The
issue also has features on Antibalas, Yonder Mountrain String Band and Tame
Impala.)

Click here CLICK HERE for a special renewal rate and use promo code SPECIAL, before 2/21/13, to get your issue
delivered to your mailbox.

In addition, you'll receive a complimentary copy of the July 2009 issue
featuring DMB on the cover. (That one was about the post-LeRoi world of DMB
and Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.)

Not too shabby, eh? If you missed out on the last DMB issue, you get that too! Or, if you're just one of those Noah people that need 2 of everything, you'll have a spare. So if you're considering broadening your reading horizons, and like music, this is a win-win.

You knew it was coming, but it's always to nice to get a confirmation and not find out it's just something as phony as an internet girlfriend (timely joke!). The Dave Matthews Band is playing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (known as Jazzfest). According to the Jazz Fest official site, DMB is the headliner April 28. That's a Sunday in case you don't have your calender in front of you. There's about a billion bands that day, but of note , B.B. King, and Better Than Ezra are all playing the same day as DMB.

DMB is not new to Jazz Fest, they played in 2001, with guest appearances from Lenny Kravitz (on Watchtower) and the first appearance of Me and Julio in 9 years, with Paul Simon taking the vocals on his own song. They also appeared at Jazz Fest
5 other years. Check em out if you're in the Big Easy, or around those parts.

Dave Matthews Band kicked off their 2012 Winter Tour with a first; the band performedAway From The World in its entirety. This is the first show where DMB played an album completely. And they practically played it straight through.

Fans were expecting a heavy dose of AFTW, but this was a surprise (the good kind). Debuting were Drunken Soldier, Belly Full, and a full-band version of Broken Things (previously played at a Dave and Tim show). Other than that, there were not any shockers, but when you have a show with an entire album, do you need more shockers? Well, some do, but we've grown accustomed to them by now. Reaction from fans has been quite positive (so far). The tour continues with another show at IZOD and then DMB plays Jimmy Fallon on December 3.

In case you forgot, the Dave Matthews Band 2012 winter tour begins November 30 (which is most likely today if you're reading this on time) in East Rutherford, NJ. The tour begins with a Sandy Relief show; proceeds are going to benefit those effected by the "super storm" that devastated the East Coast.

The tour - 15 shows running until December 22 - is in support of Away From The World the latest DMB album. Expect a solid rotation of those songs to appear at the shows, and that means the live debut (hopefully!) of Drunken Soldier, Broken Things (in a full-band show), and perhaps even the Dave solo song Belly Full. As for what else? Who knows... Stefan once again teased fans by mentioning on his Twitter that he's hopeful that Monkey Man - a song from the infamous Lillywhite Sessions and never performed live - would make a debut some day. Will it be this tour? You'll just have to check out a show to find out.

Keep and eye on the
message boards and follow us on
Twitter for live, real-time updates from the shows on the breaking set list news and notes. Should be a fantastic tour, see you on the road!

The Dave Matthews Band is pledging $1 million to support those effected by Hurricane Sandy. The Warehouse announced that the opening show to the winter tour, at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, NJ will now be a benefit show, with all proceeds going to relief efforts for the storm. There's also a variety of ticket packages now available - one which includes a meet-and-greet with Dave himself. You can read more about those here.

Additionally, a new live video for the song If Only is exclusively on Rolling Stone (for now). You can check it out at the Rolling Stone website

The Dave Matthews Band is adding a television appearance in during the upcoming Winter Tour. According to a source familiar with guest scheduling, DMB will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on December 3. DMB is off that Monday; they play in Louisville, KY the following night.

Neither the official site nor Fallon's official site have announced it yet, so technically it's not officially happening yet, but they shall.

Away From The World has hit the magic 500,000 units sold number. The Dave Matthews Band 2012 album is officially a Gold Record, according to the RIAA rankings.

Times are a bit different from even 2009, where CD's were still being sold in places called "stores", so it's a good number to turn in after the album being out only a few months. The DMB will be supporting Away From The World in a Winter Tour beginning November 30 in New Jersey.

Songs from the Dave Matthews Band are now available for the video game Rock Band. According to the Rock Band Blog, the songs Mercy, Ants Marching, and So Much To Say are available as downloadable content for the game (check your systems downloadable platform to find em).

The download is titled Dave Matthews Band Pack 01, which would lead one to presume that there would be more. But in the mean time, dust off that ole Rock Band game and play some DMB!

The long speculated Dave Matthews Band winter tour is officially announced. According to the Official Site, DMB is heading out on what is basically a winter tour (I know, Winter doesn't start until December 21, just go with it) beginning November 30 in New Jersey at the IZOD center and runs until December 22 (winter!) in Philadelphia.
Notable stops include a 2-night stand in Charlottesville (the city is basically sold out already, so good luck with getting a hotel), and stops in New Hampshire, Baltimore, Brooklyn, and the Mohegan Sun casino in Connecticut.

The Warehouse members can purchase tickets beginning on October 4, the rest of you slugs have to wait until October 19.

The official site of the Dave Matthews Band has a new look. The spiffy new site has a few more bells and whistles, including a few things you may not have notices (like the ability to listen to DMB music right at the site... you knew about that, right?)

The biggest new addition is a social networking aspect; Twitter, Facebook and even instagram are all available to share and upload pictures to the site; just sort of poke around there and you'll find out what I mean.
Additionally, on the main page (cycling through in case you don't see it at first) is a clip to the making of Mercy. And keen eyes caught a glimpse of some of the working names of the songs. Seems like Mercy went by the name Whole Note for a while. Kinda catchy.

Even with physical sales of Compact Discs way down from the numbers even a few years ago, the Dave Matthews Band managed their 6th straight #1 album, with Away From The World selling over
270,000 copies in its first week of sales.

The streak goes back to Before These Crowded Streets (with Crash debuting at #2 thanks to that pesky Hootie, and his alleged Blowfish). DMB stands alone now with 6 straight #1's.

The album is still getting very positive praise, except from a few shmos that either are just spiteful or like trolling. If you still haven't picked up a copy, quit lolly-gagging and go buy one!

Just a friendly reminder that the Dave Matthews Band plays at the Hollywood Bowl on September 12 (which odds are is tonight if you're reading this in a timely fashion) in promotion for the new album Away From The World. If you're within a plane flight of the area and want to hit it up, you still can (good seats still available!)

The promotion machine has been in full effect recently, with an appearance on the Ellen! show on September 11 and an upcoming sit-in with Jimmy Kimmel on September 13. So keep those ears pealed for some DMB!

Away From The World is now available! You probably know that fans have been digging it (if you're one of those neanderthals holding out for your actual copy and haven't listened yet). The album received positive reviews for the most part so far - you can read some of em here.

Of course if you ordered the Super Deluxe version, you have 29 different songs to listen to (counting the CD, bonus Summer Sampler, and the DVD), so you've got a lot of listening to do. But we want to hear your reactions. Hit us up on the ole Twitter or post on our always sanguine message boards and sound off. Albums pretty darn good, ain't it?

We're not going to insult your intelligence by proclaiming that the latest Dave Matthews Band album - Away From The World - is streaming on iTunes. You know that and have listened to it 12 times already. And I'm sure you inventive non-North American fans have figured out a way to hear it too (let's not kid ourselves, you've heard it).

So... what did you think? Over on the boards, commonly known as the place with more negative energy than New York during the Ghostbusters 2 era, AFTW is sitting at around
93% approval. And honestly, that feels a bit low. What's interesting is that there's no real consensus on the best song on the album; for every Snow Outside vote, there's another fan that puts Broken Things up at the top and Snow falls toward the bottom. And that's not a knock on either song, it just goes to speak to the power of the entire album; it's just that good.

And we'd be remiss if we didn't mention Drunken Soldier by name, because it is simply a work of controlled chaos captured in the form of music.

So... what's your favorite? What did you like? If you haven't sounded off yet, send us a tweet for your twitterers, or post over at the boards (plenty of threads on it, including the original stream one). We want to know, is Away From The World everything you'd hope it would be?

The great Rodrigo Simas, founder of DMBrasil and long-time friend of Dave Matthews, had an opportunity to chat with Dave recently. Those conversations will now be heard by you as well, according to The Official Site Dave and Rodrigo kicked it old-school (or velha escola) in a 14-part series which will be featured on the DMB
You Tube Channel.

As we said above, Dave and Rodrigo are friends, and Dave usually opens up pretty well to Rodrigo, mainly because Rodrigo is the nicest guy in the entire world (or at least in the top 4). We highly recommend you check em out, and if you're at the Gorge, and see Rodrigo, say hi to him!

The Mercy video has debuted. You may recall that there was a call for footage from fans, and you have seemingly responded. If you haven't checked out the video, here it be

DMB is partnering up with Sirius/XM for a month to turn a channel into a DMB channel. The crowning achievement will be a live stream of Night 2 from The Gorge. If you don't have Sirius/XM, check out the
thread on it to sign up.

Do you recognize this voice? That's right, our own little David J is lending his voice to a cartoon. According to the youtube page, the show features Cindi Lauper and George Takai too! If you're old like me, no, you're not confused, there was a cartoon called the Roman Hollidays, which had an awesome
theme song (not as awesome as The Banana Splits, and lets not even mention the awesomeness that is Fat Albert, but we're getting far afield... )

The first full interview of the Dave Matthews Band is on newstands now. Billboard magazine interviewed DMB about their forthcoming release Away From The World. The article is not on-line yet, so you'll have to pick it up at newsstands (or something like that...).

There isn't a whole lot of info regarding the songs, per se, but it goes into a lot of detail in the relationship with producer Steve Lillywhite and Dave, and it does talk about how awesome the album is, because it is.

Away From The World is available September 11, and there's still time to
pre-order, so if you're one of those procrastinators, stop it and order.

The contents of the Super Deluxe version of Away From The World is now official. The disc will contain 10 (or so..) live performances from the 2012 tour. The songs are:

Eh Hee – Noblesville, IN – 6.22.12

Pig – Mansfield, MA – 6.5.12

Say Goodbye – Saratoga Springs, NY – 6.8.12

Lie In Our Graves – Saratoga Springs, NY – 6.8.12

What Would You Say – Saratoga Springs, NY – 6.8.12

Stay or Leave – Wantagh, NY – 6.12.12

Little Red Bird – Hartford, CT – 5.26.12

Blue Water > Best of What’s Around – E. Troy, WI – 7.6.12

Shotgun – Hershey, PA – 6.29.12

Don’t Drink The Water – Noblesville, IN – 6.22.12

The official listing calls Pig "Don't Burn The Pig", but it's the "Pig" version of the song. Also of note, Dave actually sings "and we dance away.." at the end of Lie In Our Graves, as he used to back in the early 90's. It's the first DVD release for Best Of What's Around (and Blue Water, for that matter), and only the second official release for Shotgun. And if you count the partial of Blue Water, that's 3 unreleased songs making it into the Away From The World package (along with Shotgun and Eh Hee). Also, there is a photo book and lyric cards for the songs.

There will be a Dave Matthews Band album release show, but it's not where you think. The official site The Official Site announced a concert September 12 at The Hollywood Bowl. This will celebrate the release of Away From The World, the latest album from DMB.

Tickets for members of The Warehouse are on-sale now. As with the 2012 tour, there are Premium Ticket packages available for you whales out there.

Some of the bonus material accompanying the latest Dave Matthews Band album is now known. If you order Away From The World from The Official Site, you will receive a 5-track bonus disc. Members of
The Warehouse will get 8-tracks. I'm tired of telling you to join The Warehouse, if you haven't joined by now, you don't deserve the other 3 tracks. Yea, I said it. And if you want to get technical, it's more like 9 tracks, keep reading and it will make sense.

The Halloween and Billies are a medley, as are Time Bomb and Two Step. Additionally, unless you were in St. Paul for the show, you haven't heard the final two tracks, because there is no taper version available. Track 6 with the "Mansfield Jam" is the longest of the improv songs played before Why I Am this year; it's basically a full song. And in case you have forgotten, the Jimi Thing is the one where Dave does his scat talking about the first time he met Carter. And Save Me and You Never Know are just flat out awesome. I think that about covers it.

There is still time to Pre-Order, and of course if you do that via the Warehouse, you get the 8 track version, but now I'm just repeating myself and getting preachy. The contents of the DVD bonus disc should be announced... wait for it... wait for it... wait for it.... wait for it... soon.

Spotify, the Facebook tied internet radio website, is now featuring live performances from the Dave Matthews Band. If you search Live Series Dave Matthews Band you will find the studio albums listed, with previously released live performances of each song.

Because it's previously released songs only, that means 3 songs are not there (Dreams of our Fathers, STD Her, and Baby Blue), but everything else, regardless of when it was released, is available. So those of you that were not in
The Warehouse when Let You Down was released on a WH 5/8 will have an opportunity to hear it. And The Last Stop is from the Central Park bonus disc, so if you never ordered that, in theory you haven't heard that performance either.

Spotify is free, and available to everyone who has a Facebook account. So if you don't have a Facebook account, you do have to sign up for one to listen to the Live Series. Check em out!

Have you ever wanted to be in a Dave Matthews Band video? No? Well, stop reading now. Now that those 3 people have gone away, for the rest of us, your opportunity to contribute to the video for the lead single from Away From The World, Mercy is here for the taking!

The info is available at
The Official Site, but in a nutshell, you can submit video or pictures, but you have to specifically follow what they're looking for. Don't get all Uwe Boll and try and make your own masterpiece. Don't forget to read the more details tab at the bottom of the object you choose.

The Dave Matthews Band 2012 tour is approaching their first break, but not before the band makes a stop in sunny Florida! The first stop in in Tampa, which you may be surprised to learn gets some pretty nifty shows for a one-stop mid-week venue. And the week ends with a stop at the now-revered West Palm Beach, where the band has been dropping fantastic sets for about 5 years in a row. As always, the anticipation for WPB is pretty darn high.

If you're one of those last second planners, this might be a good time to, well, do something last second and go if you're leaning that way. Just a few reminders of some things: Whereas West Palm Beach has been the place for the traditional Antsmarching.org party, we are NOT having an official party this year at the PGA National. So don't show up there expecting for the usual fun, they had a function and could not accommodate us. Our main focus will be in the lots, so look for the Antsmarching.org flag flying, that's where we (3 of the admins and a mod at least) will be. And we will have some "swag" there to give-away, and we'll have the DMB blasting to get you in the mood. Also, and I say this every year, it's going to be very humid. Unless you're from Thailand, the humidity will be pretty stifling. There's no shame in drinking water in addition to any alcohol you consume. You'll thank me when you don't pass out and miss the show.

So look for us in the lots! Wear your Ants Shirt and if we see you, our very own Joe M will personally pose for a picture with you (sorry, no autographs).

Being a diehard DMB fan has its disadvantages. The constant need to know what is going on at all moments in the world of Dave Matthews Band. That craving, that itch. No, not that itch. The desire to know. We get that. That's why we came up with DMB Live Setlist.

DMB Live Setlist, now available in the Windows Phone Marketplace, satisfies those cravings. Band playing a show tonight? What have they played so far? Boom. DMB Live Setlist. Oh, they played a show last night? What did they play? DMB Live Setlist.

But what if you're in the middle of something on your phone? Texting a friend? Listening to Pandora? Playing Bejeweled? You don't want to have to close out of your current app just to keep pace with the show, do you? Of course you don't. That's why DMB Live Setlist leverages the power of Push Notifications to alert you the instant a new song is being played. That's right; you'll be kept up to speed even when you don't have the app open!

Even better is the Live Tile functionality; exclusive to Windows Phone. Pin this app to your Start Screen, and during a show, the tile will come alive, flipping over to show you what the band is playing onstage at that very moment!

We've also included tweets from Ants who are tweeting from the show! If they've posted pictures or video, guess what? You get to see those too.

The popular DMBLive series is out with another release; and this time it's from a Dave Matthews Band show in sunny Florida. The featured show is 3.2.94 from the Masquerade Nightclub. The show was not recorded by fans, making this the first opportunity to hear it since that day. The set list was known partially, thanks to the old Minarets Digest mailing list, but it was incomplete.

It also appears the proper name of the club is the Masquerade Nightclub and not The Ritz, as previously thought. The show is pretty sweet, and features a very nice performance of Pay For What You Get. Check it out!

The real break for the 2012 Dave Matthews Band tour is toward the middle of July, after the West Palm Beach shows. But in a rarity for DMB, the band has four days off before heading to the arena formerly known as Deer Creek to continue the 2012 tour.

So what do the stats look like so far? If you're not familiar with the stats page in Tour Central, we'll break it down. Slowly. So far, in the 19 shows, 80 different songs have been played. The only full covers have been All Along The Watchtower and A Whiter Shade of Pale, but the most memorable by far was the Brass Monkey performance from Night 2 at Jones Beach.
Not surprisingly, a new song leads the way for most plays; Mercy. Eh Hee is the 'old' song with the most plays, with 10 appearances out of 19 shows. Among the notable one-shot performances, Drive In Drive Out, Pig, One Sweet World and, surprisingly, Stay all have a lone appearance.

As of this story, two shows are rated at 4.66 - the highest of the 19. Hartford night 2 and Virginia Beach share the honor (for now). And not surprisingly, Halloween is at both shows. Halloween has five plays thus far, and all the shows are rated at 4.35 or higher by you, the fan. Blossom is the lowest Halloween show so far.

If there's something strange in the neighborhood of Saratoga Springs, no need to call anyone, it's just the annual (except for 2001) migration of Dave Matthews Band fans for the almost-yearly concert at SPAC.

DMB first performed at SPAC in 1994, as part of the HORDE Tour. And really from that show on, SPAC has turned out some of the best shows of that given tour year. Fans often talk of venues as Meccas for DMB fans, and of course there's some debate over a "big 3" or even "big 5", but there's no denying that SPAC is a special venue for DMB. If you're not familiar with some of the cool functions of Tour Central, you can actually see a breakdown of all the songs played at SPAC. As you see from that link, Ants Marching leads the way with 13 plays up to 2012.

Among some of the SPAC shows that stand out are Live Trax 11, 2008 with The Dreaming Tree, A Dream So Real, and #40 all being released in some manner, and 2009, which is the highest rated show by those attending the show (in the Ants era) for any SPAC show.

What will DMB scare up for 2012? Follow along on the Ants Twitter (we will have 4 people providing details of the show for you!), right here on the main page of Ants for the live set list pop up during the show, and don't forget to enter your set list guesses in our award winning
set list game. Will DMB bust out a classic this weekend? Does Bustin' make em feel good? Follow along and find out!

The Pre-order window is still open for you to order the Dave Matthews Band Live Trax 22; from July 14, 2010. The show ships June 8, so you still have time to pre-order if you stop lolly-gagging and get a move on!

The show is being sold at the 2012 DMB tour as well, in fact it's available now, so if you're going to a show in the next few days, you can buy it there too. As we told you, the mix on it is fantastic, and it's one of the highest rated shows by you, the fan, in 2010. You can pre-order by following this magical link.

The Dave Matthews Band wrapped up a busy weekend in the Nutmeg State with an encore that will have fans debating its awesomeness for years to come. To recap:

A Fan heard the entirety of the new 2012 DMB studio album (compliments of Steve Lillywhite). Every song is "new", and the three songs being played this summer, Mercy, Goucho, and Sweet are all on there (and in a row).

Dave played a surprise solo show in Greenwich on May 26 prior to the Full-Band show in Hartford

Nine songs debuted this weekend, including The Stone to open the weekend, and Halloween as the penultimate track.

The Encore in Hartford night two is certainly one of the strongest in the Ants Era (2002-2012), rarely will the full-band perform on three encore songs.
Encores are something the band is measured upon; and in fan terms, they are measured on the scale of Epic. From "epic" to "EPIC. Where does Hartford night 2 fall? What are some other remembered epic encores? We created a poll in the boards, so head on over and vote for your favorite!

Fans received an extra treat courtesy of The Warehouse, a new song to download from the upcoming album, Gaucho. The semi-politically charged song (it's not as much as you think) was one of the songs to debut May 18 at
The Woodlands. The other new song to debut was Mercy, which made its premiere on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon in April. Sweet also received a full-band play.

Returning to the glory that is "rotation" were Beach Ball and You Never Know two of the most underrated and awesome songs out there. Seven and #41 are worth a mention because both are great, and there are actually people out there that don't like Seven so I like to mention it a lot to tick em off. I'm a salt-in-the-wound guy.

The Dave Matthews Band opens their 2012 tour May 18 just outside lovely Houston, Texas. The band performed a full-band sound check the evening prior, we won't spoil it for you, but if you want to find out what was played and hear some clips of songs, start around page 68 or so on the Texas thread

So between those clips, the awesome doc Hello Again from the 2010 tour, and the live tweeting we will feature from the show on the antsmarching.org twitter, you all should be sufficiently prepared to crash Ants by the second song of the show. That's another way of saying that the anticipation for this tour is pretty sky high. You know where to follow along by now, so we'll see you all as you watch along with the set list for the first show!

As if you needed more to fire you up, Dave Matthews Band has released a documentary chronicling the 2010 tour. And just when you thought it couldn't get better than that, the great Sam Erickson of 44 pictures, and director of The Road To Big Whiskey and the beautifully directed Europe 09 slapped this doc together.

Part 1 is on the DMB
youtube page, and features JTR fully from night 1 at Hartford (2010). You may recall seeing cameras at the first half of the tour, up until West Palm Beach. The remaining 4 parts will document the tour into Florida (including the return of The Last Stop). Keep checking back here and on youtube to see the remaining parts of the doc!

UPDATE: if you were one of the folks that had some audio issues watching the doc, they are corrected now. But either way, re-watch it. Because it is awesome.

PART 2: Part 2 is now up on youtube. Check out DMB at SPAC in 2010 in Hello Again pt 2.

PART 3: Part 3 is now available. Hello Again pt 3 is from Hershey, PA and features Pig. Check it out!

PART 4 & 5:: the last 2 parts are up, Part 4 from West Palm Beach has been up for a bit, but watch it again for the heck of it.
Part 5, which is an olio of locations, with the featured song being The Last Stop from West Palm Beach. Check em all out!

OK, maybe don't. But have you ever thought about what the tapers do to facilitate your Dave Matthews Band experience? After all, it was tapers that greatly assisted the spread of DMB, first from campus to campus, and continuing today from continent to continent. Tapers spend, well, lets just say way too much money to record these shows, and the vast majority are up on the internet the following day (or sometimes a few hours later). Gone is the old tradition of the "two week rule" (where fans waited 14 days prior to asking about a show).

So maybe instead of hugging a taper, you should instead give em a little space. Tapers arrive very early to venues, and set up their gear to get optimal sound. If you happen to be near one, maybe give em a little extra space? 9 our of 10 tapers don't bite, and are quite friendly, but no one really likes to have their gear bumped or trampled upon. So an extra step or 2 won't deter your DMB experience. The tapers are going to be the way that we hear quality recordings of the new songs quickly, so lets give all the tapers some props, and also some space.
After all, if it were not for tapers, only the people in Chicago would have heard the Falling Off The Roof/Jackpot live song, which our very own Moderator and taper Crumbo has graciously supplied in mp3 form for you do download. So check it out, and lets give props to the tapers.

In 2010, the last summer tour (duh), the Dave Matthews Band played over 100 songs, as seen here broken down by album. Of course, you don't need me to remind you that one of the unique things about the band is their ability to break out different songs throughout a tour; that's why the average person reading this right now will see a minimum of 2 shows in 2012. And that's just the summer.

There's a fine art to determining what will be played, which is why we have our very own Set List Game! If you've never played it before, it's pretty simple, just try and guess what song(s) will be played during the show. And you receive bonus points for predicting a song in the exact place in a show when it's played (which the kids call "spotting"). Enter your picks in, and then you can follow along during that given show in the thread for that show in the forum.

There will be fabulous prizes awarded for whomever does the best in the set list game, so best of luck in picking your songs!

Finally, after either a year, or 2 years, depending on how you score it, the Dave Matthews Band is touring. The tour opens on Friday, May 18 just outside Houston, TX.

We don't need to remind you that this is a big year for DMB; with a new album coming out (eventually), the big question is, "what will be played this year?" The first tour of the year is usually a peek at what we have in store (but not always). To help facilitate you, the fan not at the show, the good members of Ants+ will be at every DMB show this tour tweeting from the Ants Twitter. They will be tweeting specific things that you'll find interesting, not just what song is played. So if you're not following the Ants Twitter, get on the bandwagon! Those tweets, along with tweets from other fans, will pop up on our real-time-set-list feed that will pop up prior to the show. Just stay on the main page (that'd be the one you're reading this from) and the set list app will appear a bit before the show begins.

Check back every day this week as we count down to the first day of the 2012 tour!

Stefan has already tweeted it. Rashawn mentioned it to a fan. What more do you need to know that the 2012 Dave Matthews Band album won't be here until the fall? How about if you read it in Spanish?

Boyd Tinsley gave an interview to ESPNDeportes (that's ESPNSports in English, which doesn' t look nearly as cool as "Deportes") and talked tennis and the new album. The English Translation, which is not perfecto, does basically say that the album will be released in the fall (it actually says Autumn, but we're not nit-picky).

Boyd also gives a mention of a film he's producing, entitled Faces In The Mirror. That movie will be appearing in a few months, so keep an eye out for that as well.

The Dave Matthews Band Live Trax is back up and running, this time going with a more recent show. According to an email from
The Warehouse, Live Trax Vol. 22 is 7.14.10 from Scranton, PA.

This show may be an under-the-radar release to the more casual fan, but it's actually one of the highest rated shows of Summer 2010 (just hover your mouse over the stars to see the actual numeric number rating out of 5 for each show). Scranton began with The Stone (of Phillip Phillips fame), and featured other fan favorites such as Busted Stuff, One Sweet World (with the original intro), and a fairly epic Two Step. There's also an improv in there (where it sounds like Dave is barking), and the encore of So Damn Lucky into Thank You was so good the goodly folk at The Warehouse added it to the latest Warehouse disc as well.

We are skipping back across the pond for this installment of our warm-up for the 2012 with a look at a Dave and Tim show from 2007 in Amsterdam. This one is written by Danish-native Knoxvillain, who took time out of his busy schedule to pen something in a non-native language to him, which we greatly appreciate. Sit back and have a read about a show from a
European's perspective.

Guests at Dave Matthews Band shows always stick out in our minds. It''s always special to see someone join the band on stage and jam to a DMB song. But every once in a while, there's a guest that pops up out of nowhere, and 2002 had a guest that shocked everyone; James Brown. Ants+ member DoDaFoo takes us back in time and paints a picture of what it was like when Dave announced to the crowd who the guest was that night.

We are jumping into the way-back machine and heading back to 1994 for this installment of our series on remembering Dave Matthews Band shows. Our moderator Symbian flashes back to his days at the University of Florida to remember a show at a local bar called the Covered Dish. His memories may not be spot on, but you'll get the flavor of what it was like back then, check it out!

We head back to the year 2000; a special year in the memories of fans for debuts of some fantastic songs. This was also a time for stadium shows, and one of those stadium shows was at the home of the Washington Redskins. And as it is accustomed to do in the DC Metro area, it rained that show. A lot. Newscane looks back at his first DMB show in a monsoon and recalls how his fandom began.

We stay across the pond but jump years and venue sizes as we continue our look back and warm-up for the 2012 tour. Ants + member UCFish had a chance to jump the pond an catch two DMB shows, one in a big venue, and one in an intimate spot. What was it like in a small venue? Did he get railed? Any other trinkets he picked up? Find out here.

It's a dream of some of you to hop the pond and catch the Dave Matthews Band on tour in Europe. In 2009, in promotion for Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, the band did a European tour. Our very own jasonfilatov jumped the pond and saw one of the big shows over there, which happened also to become the band's most beautifully captured DVD release; Brixton. What was it like over there as an American? Find out for yourself.

This remembrance wasn't from that long ago, but it certainly was a special show. For people who grew up Cubs fans, first, my condolences, and second, the Dave Matthews Band performing at Wrigley Field certainly had a special meaning to you. Ants member goldtankboy fondly looks back at seeing the boys at the home of his favorite team, surrounded by family, and new DMB friends. Have a read here.

Back in the day, it wasn't uncommon for the Dave Matthews Band to pull a 3-day stop off in places that now get 2-stops. Hartford was one of them. And in 1999, the Insurance Capital Of The World saw some great shows. However, those shows are known by a different nomenclature to the general public; The Hartford Riots. But what were the shows like? Was it really it its hyped up to be (the riots, that is)? Ants member Joruus looks back at the so-called infamous Hartford riots, to remember a great show.

We touched on a magical show out of nowhere in part IV of our series on past DMB shows, but how about a magical song that just pops up unexpectedly? Riverbend 2008 should jump to mind. The moment is now memorialized in the latest Warehouse disc with the memorable Everyday into Halloween. But what was it like there? Ants member dmbbearcat takes us back to Riverbend.

There are few shows talked about and begged to be released more than
7.10.04. Everyone wants to be at a special show, but being at one completely unexpected - like this one - is a special treat. So, what was it like, read along as KingChrisIIRemembers Hershey.

The journey continues with fond memories of a first show from a time long ago; 1998. Fellow Ant Dramageek takes us on a journey back to his first show, Star Lake 1998. Read along and see what it was like to see a show on that now-fabled 1998 tour.

Our trip down memory lane once again remembers a Dave and Tim experience (they are quite memorably, you know). Ever wonder what it's like to drive from Austin, Texas to Boone, North Carolina? Wonder no more and join Ants user ExistanceNow as he and his friends take the sojourn.

Dave Matthews Band will headline the inaugural River's Edge Music Festival, located on Harriet Island in St. Paul, MN. DMB will play on June 24 while Tool will headline on June 23. Tickets go on sale April 13. More information and the full lineup is available at the festival's official site.

For many fans, 2012 will be the first Dave Matthews Band show they'll see in over a year. The show, and sometimes just getting to the show, is an experience you will never forget. In conjunction with this being antsmarching.org's 10th year on the internet, and many folks 10th year hanging around our message boards, we decided to get a fan perspective on some of their favorite DMB concert experiences in the past. Sort of to wet your whistle to the 2012 tour coming up.

The good members of Ants + have volunteered to put finger to keyboard and bust out some stories. Because lets face it, everyone is tired of me exaggerating stories from concerts to make them more exciting. The first of these fairly-regular columns is written by DMBzilla, looking back on the experience of a 2003 Dave and Tim show. Check it out right here.

The Summer Tour for the Dave Matthews Band may not be out of tour stops just yet. The Star Tribune out of Minnesota is reporting that DMB may perform on June 24 on Harriet Island in St. Paul, MN. Tool would headline the 1st day of the 2-day festival the day prior.

This is just a rumor for now, but Stefan (who incidentally worships Tool) has heavily alluded to the fact that it is true on his Twitter account, and a few Minnesotans (or is it Minnesotavites?) have sent in some emails saying "yep, it's true". But as always, we caution fans to wait around for an official announcement from
The Warehouse before you go an book a plane ticket.

Even though the flow of info has been light, a few nuggets do leak through pertaining to the new Dave Matthews Band album. And given the era we live in, it's fitting that Facebook is the culprit. According to Tower Of Power keyboardist Roger Smith, he is playing on the new DMB album, as says his
facebook.

The news of guests comes sort of out of left field; no one anticipated anything like that, and based on the few leaks of info, it seemed as though the sessions in Seattle were just the present DMB. Tower Of Power is opening a few shows (West Palm Beach among them), so clearly whatever songs have keys on them on the new album, chances are that Roger Smith will be sitting in on them in those shows.

So... what does that mean exactly? More "Butch Era" songs? Or more like Before These Crowded Streets with strategically placed keyboards to add more depth to songs (like Rapunzel)? And what do we make of a tweet from Stefan which claims that he also played keys on "something"? Dueling pianos? Or something worse than that?

Be on the lookout for some more news to come trickling out soon, but in the mean time, hang your hat on some piano on the new album.

The latest release from the Dave Matthews Band - Dave and Tim 6.13.93 is a true rarity. Prior to the release of this acoustic show from Richmond, VA, the set list was unknown to fans. In fact, we only knew of it because Dave mentioned it during a show a few days earlier.

Christmas Song is one of the featured songs, going by its semi-original name Blood Of Our Children (Dave used the names interchangeably in 1993). Tim does 2 solo songs, and there's an early version of Seek Up. Great show with a lot of banter from Dave to the crowd. You can pick up the show over at DMBLive.

The Warehouse announced the ticket confirmations for the Dave Matthews Band 2012 tour, and it sure seems like there's a lot of happy campers (and non-campers). Just by the reaction of fans, ticket confirmations seem to be "up"; the new system of "checking the box" as it's creatively known on the message board seems to at the very least gotten people in the door for a show.

The other thing that will be "interesting" (which is another way of saying fairly hilarious) is the new policy of the Pit. With The Pit tickets now being picked up at the venue with a photo ID, once has to wonder if the #1 complaint from the 2010 tour - people sneaking into the pit - will finally be resolved? Of course, there's people out there that are going to get railed with or without proper Pit Tickets, but the general idea is that it will limit those sneaking into the Pit (which is a good thing).

For the rest of the normals, the Citi pre-sale begins March 5 (that's today), and the normal ticket sale starts sometime after that... but really, if you're not in the Warehouse by now, I can't hear your complaints about tickets anymore. You should know better.

The lesson learned is that sometimes, the rumors are pretty darn accurate. The Official Site announced the 2012 Dave Matthews Band summer tour. No real surprises for the tour, except that perhaps that for what is to be an "album tour", the schedule doesn't seem overly long. There is also a big break after the West Palm Beach shows - and then the band will make its way out to their annual Gorge stop.

The other big news, that is not a shock whatsoever, is the official announcement of Steve Lillywhite as the producer of the soon-to-be-released DMB album. We don't need to re-hash Lillywhite's previous work, such as walking on water, curing the sick, and producing Big Country - he may have done some DMB work too (we're efforting info on that). You'll note that the info is rather sparse; as in nothing much.

So... what's up with the album? We're sure you've all heard the rumors that we have heard too, that it's done. Is it? Well, first lets just say, there are many different stages of 'done' when it comes to records. One man's done is another man's 'post-production'. And another's 'we just need lyrics here'. But given the announcement, you can bank on the album progressing much more rapidly than you (or any of us) ever imagined.

The Warehouse ticketing begins February 16, so you have a day to get everything in order for that. And yes, Antsmarching.org will indeed return to West Palm Beach for our annual parties! We will not, however, be at our usual stomping ground, the PGA National (they have a conflict that weekend). We will announce our hotel "soon", so keep your eyes pealed for that and get ready to order those tickets!

The Warehouse announced their annual Warehouse disc, Warehouse 5 Volume 11 and Warehouse 8 Volume 8 (the 8 for those with 3+ years in the club), and this year, it's a bit more than the usual 8 total tracks. When you factor in all the teases, there's 15 (or 16 - see below) different songs. The tracks are:

The first track features the very first Gravedigger, different lyrically (and musically) from the current version. That Crazy-Easy is generally regarded as if not the best version ever, at the very least the best version lyrically. Gas Into Fire is a tiny snipped of a song brimming with potential, so it's nice to see a clean version of it pop up. Why I Am came from an outro created for Old Dirt Hill in 2007, and the two met in 2009 in Charlottesville in this great version. Also of note is the strong reaction from fans on Dave's first mention of the Groo Grux King. The Halloween fake is epic. And before you go bagging on Sister, this is an especially beautiful version, probably the best ever, so give it a shot, hater. So Damn Lucky has a Thank You outro (second "cover" of sorts on a Warehouse disc), and also you may be able to pick up a Digging A Ditch tease by Rashawn in the jam. Ants Marching actually segued out of Doobie Thing a long lost fan favorite. It's not listed on the track info, so it's probably not on the disc, but there's a chance that a few of its notes make it on during the segue. It's a start I guess.

Naturally, the fan reaction has been extremely positive. And once everyone listens to the Sister and realizes that it's pretty boss, the reaction will only be more sanguine. The disc generally ships 6-8 weeks after the announcement, so don't go checking your mailbox just yet. Wait til tomorrow at least.

The first officially announced tour date in 2012 has finally arrived. The Dave Matthews Band will perform as the headliner at the Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The 3-day festival runs May 18-20.Also performing are Jack White, Chris Cornell, String Cheese Incident, and most importantly, Gogol Bordello! The concert is basically at the beach, so accommodations usually end up being on beach-front property. There are a number of hotels around the area, and also lodging can be set up to rent apartments through real estate agents (keep checking back at the Hangout site for more info).

This also probably lends a little credence to the alleged leaked tour dates that have been floating around out there, but as always, we caution you before you book your hotel, flight, and buy property in Washington state, wait for an official announcement from the official site. Because things change. But in the mean time, go check out DMB (and Gogol Bordello!) at Hangout.

Even thought it's not "official" yet, for all intents and purposes, Steve Lillywhite is in the studio right now with The Dave Matthews Band. How should you, the fan, react? Well, there's two possible ways, Sanguine or dour

To save you the dictionary search, that means basically you should be happy as a bear at an IQ convention (bears are smart!) or as cautious as bar-hopping in Beirut. Where do you fall? We here at antsmarching.org are here to facilitate your emotions.

For the cheery reasoning, our moderator Funky Tea Party (AKA Bob) has written the opinion . As for the more dark version, I play the
foil. Doesn't matter which order you read em, I guess it just depends if you're a half-full or half-empty person.

And special thanks to ants user montana49kcX for creating the fresco to the right that accurately depicts how fans feel the Lillywhite/Dave relation is (see, I'm the downer).

If you've been following (or stalking) Steve Lillywhite on Twitter, you know that he flew from New York to Seattle on January 4. That happens to be the same day that Stefan tweeted a picture of an airplane wing.... what does it mean????

It means what you already knew, there is a studio session "fixin" to start up in Seattle. It's a poorly kept secret that keeps getting confirmed in odd places (like a Facebook page for Trumpets), but that also means that the coveted "official announcement" must be on its way. Right? We created a new section in the
forums to keep up with the hype. And take a minute to vote in the poll we created down over there (to the right... see it?). The Hype Machine is officially rolling for the most anticipated studio album in 12 years. No pressure, really.

These rumors can no longer be ignored. It's pretty clear that there are a lot of rumors/innuendos/hints/answered prayers that say that Steve Lillywhite, producer of the "Big 3" of Dave Matthews Band albums, is going to be the producer for the next DMB studio effort. Lets first look at the facts before we get into the speculation and unconfirmed reports.

Steve Lillywhite's Twitter Account is a bigger tease than Dita Von. Among the gems: "hung out with old friends tonight.... good times..", "i must say its all pretty exciting right now...", and "January will be AWESOME !!!"

And on top of that, we at Ants have been receiving emails from the usual "My friend that works at (insert uppity place here) told me that...". The two most interesting and plausible based on the info we list above is A. An email which claimed that indeed DMB is doing studio work in early 2012, and B. an email on a different subject where a source said that DMB is working with, "their old producer."

So that's it, right? Hang on... just slow down a bit.

First, Lillywhite met with DMB Management prior to Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. He even tweeted about the dinner in Charlottesville. That led to a rumor that he was producing the last album (in case you missed it, he didn't). And whereas everything listed in bullet points is most likely true, they don't mean that Steve Lillywhite is producing the next album. He could be doing, well, pretty much anything other than producing the next album. Sure, the unconfirmed reports we have sure look good, but until we get some official word, the hype machine will spin out of control.

At the very least, it's safe to say that yes, the Dave Matthews Band will at the very least go into the studio in 2012 and work on a new album. But as we all remember from 2000, 04, 06, 07, and 08, that doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Sorry to end this on a downer...

The Dave Matthews Band has stepped into the cloud format of music. Available on Google Music is select songs from Lakeside Night 3 (that's the 2011 Chicago Caravan stop). This show is free now, as is the DMBLive selection of Irving Plaza.

If you're not familiar with Google Music, it's basically awesome. But if you need more details than that, it sorta works like iTunes, only you can stream it to your phone from a "cloud" - where you can upload your own music. Also available are tracks to purchase (search Dave Matthews Band to locate the free shows and others to buy). If you haven't signed up for Google Music yet, now is your opportunity to do so!

One of the most popular shows ever is getting an official release. An email from The Warehouse announced Atlantic City's spectacular Night 3 will be available December 9.
The show is the second highest rated show by fans since 2000 - and fittingly so. The rare Kill The King appeared for the first time since 2006 (and first with Tim playing on it), and the encore threw the entire crowd as the band started Ants Marching, and then jumped into Halloween. Throw in a few more awesome songs like Seek Up, Raven, and a nice mid-set Tripping Billies, and you've got yourself one heck of a show.

As is common, there is a bonus disc available as well; songs culled from the prior two nights are used, with Warehouse Members getting an additional three songs. The bonus songs for those of you in the fan club are Seven, Sister, and Write A Song. Follow the link within the Warehouse to order and get the bonus tracks!

The Dave Matthews Band is contributing a Bob Dylan song in honor of Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary. The album - slated for release November 22, will feature a myriad of artists - including Ke$sha - covering Dylan tunes. All proceeds will benefit Amnesty International.

The song that DMB will contribute is not listed, but it seems likely that it will be All Along The Watchtower, and probably a live version at that.

After a 9 month absence, the DMBLive series has begun again. Kinda. Fans were able to locate two new shows - 7.20.95 from Memphis, TN, and 9.9.96 from Birmingham, AL. The latter of the two features Ben Harper on All Along The Watchtower.

You'll note that these shows are not found on the DMBLive page; however the links for the download purchases do work. It's probably just a matter of time before they actually officially make it on the page, but if you don't feel like waiting, download away! Neither show has a fan recording in trading circles, however there was a poor quality cassette tape recording of 7.20.95 that was quite rare.

UPDATE: These two are officially up on DMBLive, so download away! Reviews are highly positive on both from fans so far!

Yes, the Dave Matthews Band Caravan came to an end on September 18, but any hopes for a sleepy off-season went out the window with a simple statement from Dave in the Encore:

"Next time I see you all I hope to have some new music for you"

What does it mean? Well, clearly it means that there are plans for new music. Generally speaking, this means album work. Two sources told antsmarching.org that there are indeed plans for studio work for DMB in 2012. But we'd like to point out that studio work does not always = a new album, or even a plan for an album. And not to rain on anyone's parade, the first session for what was intended to be be Big Whiskey And the GrooGrux King was in 2007. And the real first session was a year and a half prior to its release.

Fans have taken a bit of a Honey Badger approach to the news; some are jaded from past album plans. Others are a bit more sanguine and optimistic that the news will lead to a new DMB album. Either way, it makes the off-season a bit more lively!

Really, the Island doesn't approach, well, it kinda does with the way ocean currents work, but you know what I mean. I mean in case you forgot, the new Last Stop in the
Dave Matthews Band Caravan begins September 16, so it's your last chance to see DMB in 2011. The line up is announced, with a few new acts scattered among the remaining ones from the hurricane-induced canceled ones a few weeks back.

There still is time to pick up tickets, so if you're in the tri-state area and have nothing else to do, head on over to Randall's Island and check out the Caravan.

If you can get it to work. We have to mention that first. The good news is that in promotion with a call for people to bring perishables to Randall's Island, the Dave Matthews Band and Dispatch are offering a free download. And The DMB song, Granny from Night 3 in Atlantic City, sounds great. Unfortunately, the method in which you are to download is... problematic.

The deal is that you need to let some sort of app send a tweet or to message via your facebook. It seems that a lot of us (me too) sent the tweet, but did not get the song. So if you do get the song, congrats! And if you read the info about the application controlling your twitter or facebook, it says right at the bottom of the page that you can remove the application at any time. So no need to be paranoid. At least about your twitter or facebook.

You don't need to be reminded that September 11 is the anniversary of the most horrific attacks on American soil. As you are reflecting on the day in whichever manner you deem necessary, I'd like to mention a Dave Matthews Band fan who lost his life that day.

U.S. Navy Aerographer's mate second class Matthew Flocco worked at the Pentagon doing weather-related services. He was facilitating the U.S. Navy's planes after the attacks in New York when an airliner slammed into The Pentagon, terribly close to his desk. Matthew did not survive.

His name was known among the message boards at the time, he was a regular poster on the old DMBML.com site. Flocco was a big DMB fan; in fact, Tuesday September 11 was not a regular work day for he, he flipped his schedule to facilitate some DMB shows.

Matthew's father Michael facilitated in the rebuilding of The Pentagon; you can watch his story here (there are 3 parts). Remember the victims. Remember Matthew Flocco.

You may recall a few years back, Parade Magazine'swebsite asked Antsmarching.org to whip up a little quiz to test your knowledge of the Dave Matthews Band. They asked us (me) to add a few questions in for a revised edition, and I naturally facilitated.

They also asked me a bunch of questions about the site and the fan base in general. You can read the interview here, which then links to the quiz. If you really don't want to read that, fine... but there is a picture of both Joe M. and Matt on that link, so that alone should make you click on it. To just take the quiz, follow this link. But a word of warning: the questions are tough! And hilarious. You'll see.

The fans at the show had a great time, and the fans watching had a great time. Clearly from the fan reaction the Dave Matthews Band webcast from The Gorge was a success. And of course fans in attendance always rate the stop very high (The Gorge averages somewhere around 4.2 overall on a 5-star scale). Night 3 continued the debuts, with Loving Wings and Baby Blue making an appearance. In fact, outside the glowsticks flying everywhere (note to fans: STOP THROWING GLOWSTICKS AT THE STAGE), the weekend was quite the success.

If you missed the webcast from the weekend, shame on you. But thankfully the good folks that run the Facebook for DMB have given fans a taste of what they missed. Check out Tripping Billies from night 1 and Spaceman from night 2 on the DMB facebook page if you are a facebooker. Or facerbook, however your pluralize that.

The Last Stop in the Caravan tour is now September 16-18 back in New York, so if you didn't get a chance to see DMB on the Caravan tour yet, you still have one more opportunity. For more ticket information, check out the tickets page.

It was readily apparent from the first note of the Dave Matthews Band Gorge Caravan that that the webcast would be a success. And it was. Sure there were a few drop outs, but a simple click of the "play" button got the stream back on line, and the audio and video were excellent.

And the people actually at the show and not sitting in their perspective beds watching the stream had a good time too. The set list was a bit unique; a drum kit issue prompted Dave's new solo song Sweet to be played much earlier in the set, so fans were treated to two Dave solo songs. Additionally, two songs debuted for the '11 Caravan, American Baby Intro and the unappreciated American Baby.

The shows and webcasts continue tonight! Get your nap in today so you can stay up late and watch!

There may be a positive to the hurricane striking New York. Fans who attended Governor's Island let it be known that Gilligan and his friends had an easier time leaving an island than most did on
August 26. The Dave Matthews Band may be island hopping now.

Besides an ominous tweet from Stefan hinting at a move to a different island, a website is now
listing that the DMB Caravan has moved from Governor's Island to Randall's Island September 16-18. And it will be 3 days worth of shows.

UPDATE: The Official Site made it official. Noteworthy is that DMB is playing 3 nights at Randall's Island, which means that if you were able to attend the Friday Governor's Island show, and can make it back, you will get yourself 4 Caravan shows. Which is nice.

What was planned to be the ultimate stop on the Dave Matthews Band Caravan will be broadcast live via the internet. According to an email from
The Warehouse, all three evenings from The Gorge will appear on a new DMB official site, designed to carry the stream.

The price for all 3 days of DMB is $34.99. That seems to be the rate for most live streams that other bands do (they are becoming more popular, which is a good thing). Individual days are $14.99 a piece. So if you buy all 3 days, it's cheaper! (been helping out with the kids math homework lately, so that was an easy one to figure out). You can sit back in the comfort of your own home and watch the Gorge live!

For those of you actually attending the shows live, the Schedule is now available. Please note that Gogol Bordello is playing before DMB on Friday, so don't just camp out at the big stage, head over to see Gogol live, because they are awesome. You won't regret it.

If you needed more proof that expectations are just a wee bit out of whack by a plurality of the fan-base, the Dave Matthews Band played a pretty nice Little Set for the one and only Hurricane-influenced Caravan stop at Governor's Island. Yet somehow, the show is trending to be one of the lowest ranked shows by Ants members in 11 years.

That's right. Despite a new cover (fittingly, Neil Young's "Like A Hurricane"), a fan favorite (Shotgun), and a powerful closer (Two Step), the fans wanted... well, I don't know what they were expecting outside of a Jesus on the Harp guest appearance. The Ants rating, voted upon by fans who attended the show, has slowly crept up to a 3.31 out of 5 stars. This morning it started at 3.17, so it's getting a bit more love, but in historical terms, this show now is a bit above a show considered by most to have The Worst Encore Ever, a show where Dave started yelling at a fan, and is actually below a show that was the most hyped up to that point in DMB history, but overall not sharp.

What was the problem? Was it the one night? Was it the fact that you had to swim or take a boat to see the show? Was it that the pacing of the show was a bit off? Or are expectations so high for this band that if they don't drop something extremely rare every time out it's a failure? Vote in our latest poll (over there to the right, scroll down a bit... yep, there it is) and let us know: Was the Governor's Island show really historically that bad?

You may have heard that someone has it in for the east coast. First an earthquake, and now a hurricane. So... is the Governors Island DMB Caravan still on?

Yes. Until official word from The Dave Matthews Band management comes down, nothing will change in the planned events this weekend. For those of you who have never been through a hurricane, and judging by the panic expressed on the boards that's a lot of you, hurricanes don't follow smooth paths; they wiggle. So even though it would make your life easier to know what was going to happen, truly no one knows which path the hurricane will take. Just stay tuned to the Caravan site and your email, and here of course, for al the latest news.

UPDATE: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg revoked all permits for outdoor events . on Sunday. So we really don't need an announcement anymore, there will undoubtedly be no Sunday show.

UPDATE #2: Citicard Members received an email proclaiming that Saturday and Sunday are both postponed. Not exactly shocking, but this is the first official word to come out so far.

UPDATE #3: Management used Facebook to announce that indeed, Saturday and Sunday are a no-go. Ticket-holders for either of those nights (single ticket holders, that is), are invited to attend Friday's show, which for now is still on.

UPDATE #4 The Management loves them some facebook. This note just popped up: Note to Saturday and Sunday Ticket Holders:
If a single day ticket for Saturday or Sunday is used for today’s show you WILL be allowed to use it again on the rescheduled date.

Additionally, we're getting reports of some delays taking the ferry over, so be forewarned and plan your trip accordingly.

Fans were wondering why there were not going to be Dave And Tim sets at the final two Dave Matthews Band
Caravan stops. Wonder no more. The official site announced the duo will perform on the Sunday of each stop; that's August 28 and September 4 at Governors Island and The Gorge if you don't feel like looking it up.

Additionally, if you're one of the poor shleps who still hasn't joined The Warehouse, first allow me to mock you yet again. Mock Mock Mock. But fret not, the good people of The Warehouse have made Live Trax 20 available. If you've forgotten, that is a multi-track recording from 1993 of the band performing at the infamous Wetlands Preserve in New York. It's the earliest known multi-track recording of the band. You can pick it up at the DMBLive store.

If you were just to do a cursory glance at the acts performing at the Dave Matthews Band Caravan on Governor’s Island, you might think the thing that looks not like the others is Gogol Bordello, the Gypsy Punk band. But the similarities between the two are striking.

Both DMB and Gogol Bordello developed cult-like followings early in their existence. And both are built on stellar instrumentation, and have a bit of an eclectic makeup. Let’s face it, both look more like a bus stop than a band on stage. And as DMB fuses jazz, funk, folk, and rock, Gogol Bordello takes gypsy music and throws in some punk with a bit of a hip-hop bass line. And both bands are known for their incredible live shows.

Gogol Bordello formed in 1999, with front man Eugene Hutz putting together a group of artists he thought could polish off his vision of bringing gypsy music to the masses. Hutz is Ukrainian, Russian, and Romani, which is a fancy way of saying Gypsy. It was the latter that influenced him musically. Early on, the band received a strong following on the New York club scene, which led to more tours, albums, and loyal fans. Sound familiar?

Even Dave and Gogol lead singer Eugene Hutz have some acting credits to their names. Hulz most notably in the excellent film Everything Is Illuminated (which is streaming on Netflix at the time of this article). And although both bands seem to make stars reluctantly of their frontman(s), both bands are especially skilled. The lineup for Gogol may seem about as random as a snowflake, but it’s the violin, accordion, and percussion that melt together to make the music one of the best live acts going. Seriously. Their ability to get a crowd into a show is like nothing you’ve ever seen; it’s truly an event to see Gogol Bordello live.

The band released Trans Continental Hustle in 2010, and continue to tour. In addition to the Caravan stop, they will perform in Europe, and also make their first appearance in Florida in Orlando at the Orlando Calling music festival.

You can check out some music from Gogol Bordello at their music page. Make sure you check out Trans-Continental Hustle and Sun Is On My Side from Trans-Continental Hustle, and from Gypsy Punk, Start Wearing Purple (which is probably their best known song).

Whatever you do during the Caravan, Do not miss Gogol Bordello on Sunday August 28. And if you’re not going to the Caravan, well shame on you.. but make plans to catch Gogol Bordello when they’re in your area.

We are half way through the
Dave Matthews Band Caravan tour, and there has been a lot of great music so far. For some of you, the Caravan has been an introduction to artists you were not familiar with previously. We here at Antsmarching.org decided to look at a few artists that you may not be as familiar with to give you a bit of a sneak-peak at them as you get ready to head to Governor’s Island on August 26-29.

The Wood Brothers will perform in New York on August 26 (that’s the Friday show if you don’t feel like clicking on the little calendar at the bottom of your computer) at 1:45 pm. So who are The Wood Brothers? Well, it’s not just a catchy gimmick, they are brothers. Oliver (guitar, vocals) and Chris Wood (bass, vocals, harmonica) provide a sound that in principle is not too far off from that of DMB; a fusion of different sounds that mesh together in a funky way. You can hear a mix of southern rock with a hip hop beat in Shoofly Pie. You can check out the song for yourself or just download the sucker for free at the Wood Brothers official site. If the name Wood sounds familiar, that’s because Chris is the same Wood from the jazz group Medeski Martin & Wood. The duo have been featured on NPR, but overall have kept a lower profile media-wise, opting to go the DMB route of word-of-mouth for publicity, based on the strength of their music.

The latest album from The Wood Brothers, Smoke Ring, comes out August 2. You can listen to it streaming at Paste Magazine’s website.

So rather than sit around in a hotel room on Friday, head on over to the DMB Caravan early, and check out The Wood Brothers! Tell em Antsmarching.org sent ya.

Covers. We love 'em; we hate 'em. Like it or not, bands (good and bad) have always included covers in their live and studio repertoires. What first put the Beatles on the map in Liverpool in the early 60's? Motown covers. Similarly, it was Dave Matthews Band's eerie yet powerful version of All Along The Watchtower that put them on the map in Charlottesville; the ever-growing throngs came to hear Watchtower.

Covers have always been and continue to be a part of the DMB show, with growing variety as well. The addition of a full-time Tim Reynolds expanded the classic rock influence of the covers chosen (i.e. Money, Good Times Bad Times, Sweet Emotion) and (without checking any stats) the frequency of cover songs being played. We at AntsMarching.org (and by "We" I mean "I") have defined the top 10 DMB covers at all time. Check the list here.

(By the way, I didn't write that intro above, it was penned by one of our Ants + members. If you want some of the perks like that, hop on up to the rail and join the club!)

The second round of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan Sampler - featuring artists performing on the Caravan tour - is now available. And among the artists is
Gogol Bordello, and they're awesome. So that makes the download worth it.

And if you are among the many that receive a note that says that your IP has already downloaded the sampler (like mine said), a little trick I picked up in 'Nam is to launch the email on your phone, iPad, or even at your work address and receive a new code. Or you can just unplug your router, but that requires actual physical activity, and we frown upon that. But do do all that - even unplug the router - just to get the Gogol Bordello track, is worth it.

Anticipation was high, and to add to that, Stefan tweeted that fans faces would potentially be melted off. The beginning of the show certainly got the heat turned up around the collective craniums of the attendees of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan in Chicago.

7 songs in, fans on the boards were searching around to find a better 7-song start than July 10th Lakeside show (I'd call it a 9 song run, because I like Spaceman, so there!). Band Crew member Joe Lawlor guested on a powerful Rhyme & Reason, as well as Sweet Emotion. The band ended night 3 in Chicago as they ended night 3 in Atlantic City, with Thank You. Clearly twice is a pattern, and fans were much obliged to say "you're welcome".

So... which show did you like better, Night 3 Atlantic City or Night 3 Chicago? Express your opinion on the right side of this page (a little down over there) and participate in our latest Antsmarching.org poll question.

Two nights in the books, and the anticipation for night three is sky-high. After the premiere Dave Matthews Band Caravan stop closed with one of the best shows in recent memory (with a rating of 4.88 out of 5 by attendees, it's one of the most popular show with fans ever), the expectations for night 3 in Chicago is a tad bit lofty.

If DMB continues the trend of not repeating any songs in the Caravan, there are a lot on the table that potentially could be played (Ants Marching, Halloween, The Last Stop, and maybe even the latest Twitter Campaign song, Monkey Man). Well, there's only 2 ways to find out how it plays out; get yourself on a train and head down to the south side, or follow along here at antsmarching.org by getting real-time reactions from people at the show on Twitter and jump in the always kind and positive chat in the South Side thread.

The second stop in the 2011 Dave Matthews Band Caravan featured something not a whole lot of people expected; a new song. Dave performed the song on the ukulele in the first Encore spot, creatively titled "New Song" by the real-time set list. If you take a little saunter through the "new song" thread, you'll eventually find a link to you tube containing the song.Joy Ride also made a return to set lists, for the first time since
2006. Two other songs also made their 2011 returns. The Caravan continues July 9 (which is probably tonight if you're timely in reading this). And good news to those traveling on the trains, another train has been added (leaving at 1am), so some of you won't be there as late as after the Friday show. I hope.

The Dave Matthews Band
caravan makes its second of four stops in Chicago, on the south side. Will DMB keep the trend going with no repeats all weekend? Which guests will stop by and jam with the band? Is Daniel Lanois the obvious choice for the Friday show?

If you are not attending the shows, and shame on you if you are within the greater Chicagoland area and you're not, fret not. Once again, our Ants + folks will be providing the play-by-play as they did from Atlantic City. So if you're not one of the cool kids on Twitter and following Antsmarching, get on the band wagon and follow Antsmarching.org for all the happenings from the Caravan all day long.

We will also have our AntsLive real-time set list popping up right here on the main page, so you can follow the set list here. It will be just like being there, so follow along with us and enjoy the shows!

That should pretty much shut up the set list complainers. The Dave Matthews Band capped off the inaugural Caravan stop with a show that already has people calling for an official release. Kill The King made an extremely rare appearance, first since 2006, and brought Dive In back full-band (as opposed to Dave solo) for the first time since
2009.

Fan favorite Raven also made an uncommon stop, and DMB debuted another new cover, Sweet Emotion. The capper to the night was DMB answering the chants from the crowd for Halloween by squeezing it in - after a fake of Ants Marching by Carter.

All told, DMB did not repeat a single song all weekend, including the Dave and Tim performance. That's 66 songs counting Dave and Tim for a weekend. Not too shabby. So stop kidding yourself and head over to
the official Caravan site and pick up some tickets for one of the remaining stops. Or all of em.

More returns, more guests; that was the theme of night 2 in Atlantic City. The Dave Matthews Band welcomed Break Free back to the live rotation for the first time since 2006 . They also welcomed back Leon Mobley, who last appeared in 2008. Mobley first guested with the band in 1996.

Mobley guested on the final encore song, Two Step, although an error in the real-time set list listed the track as Warehouse. Vusi Mahlasela (Everyday) and Warren Haynes (#41) also sat in with the band - Tim and Warren actually traded solos on #41 that really sparked the crowd.

Fan favorites Big Eyed Fish and new favorite Black Jack also continued their run from 2010, and Alligator Pie a Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King song that did not get much play last year, also appeared. There is still time to run down to AC for the final stop, June 26. Check out The Caravan site for tickets.

The second night of the Dave Matthews Band Caravan kicks off in - well, depending on when you read this - soon. You can follow the tweets from the many folks we have commenting on the action in AC at the Ants Twitter. And of course keep up with the witty commentary on the boards.

And Saturday is also the Dave and Tim performance, so keep an eye out for the action in the above locations to find out what the acoustic duo play!

The premiere Dave Matthews Band Caravan stop saw two songs return to set lists for the first time in a while. Captain returned to a DMB show for the first time since 2004. It also marked the first time that Jeff and Rashawn played on it, and Tim's first full-band Captain. And another fan favorite, Shotgun returned for the first time since 2009.

Three covers also popped up. Dave performed Whiter Shade Of Pale in the first encore slot. He had previously performed this during the Blue Man Group benefit. Buena A Morphine song, and Led Zeppelin's Good Times Bad Times also made their DMB-show debuts.

The Caravan continues June 25 in Atlantic City, and carries on the following day. There are still single-tickets available. Check out the DMB Caravan site to grab a last-second ticket!

The time has arrived for the premiere stop on the Dave Matthews Band 2011 Caravan tour. If you are going to the shows, we'd like to point out a few things to watch for:

Look Up At The Sky

flying over Bader field will be the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ) Blimp. They are out to raise awareness about the importance of scheduling an annual mammogram. And you know the concert is big time when there's a blimp overhead. So give a big ole wave to the blimp! And there's a chance that our very own beloved Joe M. will take a spin on the blimp (unless he's too much of a chicken, but that would never happen).

Local business Russo's Liquors (2425 Pacific Ave, Atlantic City, NJ - on the corner of Pacific and Florida) is offering a 10% discount to anyone that stops by Saturday between 12 and 7. Just ask for "John" and give the secret password, "Ants". Drink responsibly, and 10% cheaper at Russo's Liquors!

And for those not going to the festivals, do not fret. Simply follow the Ants Twitter. We have tons of people tweeting from the show (including the beloved and Blimp-challenged Joe M.). And they are going to provide a great picture (literally and figuratively) of everything going on. The pictures have already begun, so if you're not following Antsmarching on Twitter, get on the bandwagon!

And of course, the award-winning Set List Game is back for the Caravan shows! The winner will receive a fabulous prize, so get your guess-on, and predict that set list!

And most importantly, be safe. And enjoy all the bands and the atmosphere from the inaugural Dave Matthews Band Caravan.

There's a good chance you are familiar with the music of the Dave Matthews Band if you are reading this. However, that does not mean you know every lyric of every other band playing at the Caravan shows in 2011. To facilitate your familiarity of the other bands (and DMB), there is now a free Caravan Sampler available. It downloads via iTunes, so just follow the instructions to get the tracks. So check it out an give a listen to some of the artists performing at the Caravan shows!

If you are one if the few out there that ended up with a Wrigley disc that skips or does not import into your music player of choice, The Warehouse has stepped it up. Check your email for a free digital download of the Wrigley shows. There are also instructions on what to do if there is an issue with one of your physical discs.

The most frequently asked question is now answered. Yes. The Warehouse announced that single-day tickets are available for the Chicago and Atlantic City Dave Matthews Band Caravan stops. The single-day tickets are $85, however, please note that there is no re-entry for single day tickets. VIP single-day tickets are also available for $325.

The speculation and rumor-mongering is finally over. An email from The Warehouse confirms the strongest of the rumored locations; The Gorge and New York City.

The New York stop is on Governors Island August 26-28. It's not just a catchy name, it's really an island if you're not familiar with the topography of the greater New York area, however ferries will be provided free of charge to concert goers.

The Gorge show is Labor Day weekend, September 2-4. The line-ups for either show have yet to be released, but just like the other caravan stops, Dave Matthews Band headlines each night. Tickets for the New York stop are available via the Warehouse April 25, and the Gorge tickets begin April 28. The rest of the non-warehouse slobs have to wait until April 29 and May 6 respectively for their ticket purchases.

In case you missed it on Friday, The Warehouse officially announced Live At Wrigley Field. The standard order is night 2, whereas the deluxe "Double Play" release is both nights in a box set, with a bunch of other goodies.

The email from The Warehouse made it official; The second Dave Matthews Band Caravan stop is in Chicago. The official location is "Lakeside", on the south side of Chicago - which is pretty much where the last rumors put it.

The lineup is a little different from The Atlantic City stop; Ben Folds and Daniel Lanois are among the new acts. Absent from the listing is the Dave and Tim set that is present in AC, however, other
locations list the Dave and Tim set, and the Carter and Stefan performances as well.

The ticket window for The Warehouse begins now (that's April 7). The public sale is April 15, with Citicard members getting a crack on April 11.

The long awaited and oft-rumored second Dave Matthews Band Caravan stop is set to go. Allegedly. According to WBEZ (and written by long-time DMB hater Jim DeRogatis ), a press conference is slated for April 7 to announce DMB at the former lakefront location of the United States Steel Corporation on the South Side Of Chicago.

The dates are July 8-10, according to that article, and every single rumor-monger on the message boards. Whereas the rumored location has jumped around - hardly anyone pinned this spot down (although a few will claim "insider information!").

That only leaves two Caravan stops left. And one is surely The Gorge. We've already documented that to death (and many of you already have flights and campgrounds booked), but in case some of you are haters, in a rather lengthy
radio interview on April 4, Dave all but confirmed the show that we already basically had confirmed in January. Check out the interview anyway, as Dave discusses some of his lyrics, the influence of Seattle on his music, and pretty much everything else.

Few tours wear the nostalgic tag for those that were not there like Fall 1998. Not that the tour wasn't beloved by those in attendance; it's worth noting that management selected a
show from this time frame as the first in the Live Trax Series. 12.19.98 also got a release, and was the first live performance by DMB to stream over the internet. Yes, way back then people actually streamed video. As time goes by, the outcry for more releases from this time period increases.

The shows were well known and beloved mainly for the inclusion of Tim Reynolds. Prior to his 2008 return to the band, this was the last full-run of shows he did with Dave Matthews Band. Additionally, Bela Fleck, Jeff Coffin, and Greg Howard all made stops at shows, plus Maceo Parker, Mitch Rutman (who was a tech for DMB back then), Warren Haynes, Joshua Redman, and the rest of the Flecktones. So if you're a fan of the band with guests, this is the time period for you.

12.3.98 is the seeming front runner for a release if fans had their way, and with good reason. The show reads like a "best of" album more than a show. Interestingly, a song that got a lot of play then, but has recently taken a hiatus, was Tripping Billies, with 26 plays. The shows were Before These Crowded Streets heavy, as one might expect. It's the inclusion of guests that makes this tour stand out; this was the first tour to incorporate Tim in the bands music, and his style, meshing with Bela Fleck guesting on most shows, really gave the band a sound that struck a chord (get it?) with fans.

It's hard to believe that until not too long ago, we all thought that the very first Dave Matthews Band show was on that cool date of 4/20 (1991). But now we know the truth.

March 14, 1991, a group of guys that looked more like a bus stop than a band sauntered on stage at the now-legendary (by their own hand) Trax Nightclub and played their first live show. The band had only been playing together for a bit over a month or so when they did play that first gig.

The entirety of the early 1991 shows is a bit of a mystery; we know of this show, the 4/20 show, the first paid gig, and a surprise party for Stefan. We're not even exactly sure when the band started playing their weekly gigs at Eastern Standard.

But it was 20 years ago that Dave Matthews Band got their start. And after 20 years, they, and we, are still here dancing.

The premiere stop of the the Dave Matthews Band 2011 festival tour, dubbed Dave Matthews Band Caravan is set for Atlantic City. The new website DMBcaravan has all the bands listed for the 3-day festival, scheduled for June 24-26.

Of note are the DMB related acts. Yes, the boys are indeed headlining all three days of the festival. Additionally, "special performances" are scheduled by Carter, and Stefan (separately), and a Dave and Tim acoustic set is also scheduled. The full lineup is available here.

Tickets for members of The Warehouse go on sale March 14. The rest of you slugs can start purchasing tickets on March 25, unless you have a Citicard, then the sale begins on March 21 (see the caravan website for details).

Radio DJ Colin Cowherd and his team of producers and call-screeners have devised a 64-"team" tournament similar to the NCAA Basketball tournament, only with musical bands. So naturally they want you to vote for your favorite bands in the match-ups. Dave Matthews Band has drawn a #12 seed, taking on #5 Bon Jovi in the first round match-up.

Yes, I know, we all know, DMB deserves a higher seed, blah blah blah. It's all a publicity stunt anyway, so the seeding doesn't really matter (although it's worth pointing out that #12's always knock off #5's in real life). To cast your vote for DMB, follow the link here. Even if you don't usually vote in these things, it'll certainly tick everyone off if DMB makes a big run; and that alone, for the humor of it, got my vote. It should get yours too.

To date, Summer 2000 remains the most anticipated Summer tour by the Dave Matthews Band. The anticipation for the album that eventually became The Lillywhite Sessions was elevated, and as far as fans thought, everything was sanguine in Charlottesville (if you really want to rehash it, you can read here).

Reality may be what it is, but nothing will change the fact that the 2000 summer tour was one of the greatest ever. All tours, past and future, are measured against the last summer where fans were still optimistic and not as jaded as today. How good was the tour? There have been three year-2000 releases from the Live Trax Series, and the vast majority of fans would still like three or four more.

Songs from the 2000 sessions debuted that summer; Raven, Sweet Up And Down, Grey Street, Grace Is Gone, and Busted Stuff, along with a few others that had been heard in some other manner previously; JTR, Digging A Ditch, and Bartender. The band also performed a few #40's, and the last full-original #36 appeared in 2000. The songs morphed along the way, and by the end of the tour, most had fairly set lyrics. Even the living legend himself, Al Green sang with the band. How great was the tour? This was the lowest rated show from the year via the Ants members, and that was mainly on technical grounds. Wouldn't you like to see a set like that today?

It all changed after 2000. To the point where fans today that were not around then don't even realize how special 2000 really was. There were not organized chants for songs, there was not massive pee-breaks for songs from certain albums, the band just played, and fans sat there and enjoyed it. The band has been on quite a special run since 2008, with fantastic tours in '09, and '10 as well ('06 and '07 are underrated as well, but that's for another debate), but everything will always be compared to that magical summer of 2000.

All the writing has been on the proverbial wall that one of the Dave Matthews Band festivals will be in Atlantic City. The media (read: non-radio station DJ's) have now picked up on the news. The Press of Atlantic City reports that indeed DMB is playing Bader Field June 24-26.

I know, you already knew that... but wait! There is more! The plan is for 3 stages; a main stage and two smaller stages, according to the report. The audience could be up to 75,000 people per day. Of course Red Light Management is not confirming nor denying any reports. So obviously Atlantic City and the Gorge are a go, we're just waiting on the Chicagoland area (or further north) and greater New York-ish area shows to know exactly where all the shows will be. Allegedly.

It was a week later than some claimed they would be, and they're not exactly all announced, but the Dave Matthews Band has announced some dates for their 2011 festival tour.

According to The Warehouse, DMB will play June 24-26 in the "northeast/Mid-Atlantic" (we have no idea where), and July 8-10 in the Midwest. There will also be shows in August and September in the "coming soon" area of the country. According to bookings listed at a certain campground, one of those "coming soon's" is in a state named after a President (hint: Zachary Taylor doesn't have a state named after him).

The festival tour also has a name: Dave Matthews Band Caravan. Has a nice ring to it. As for the rest of the info, the only thing worth noting is that DMB is indeed headlining all nights of their performances. The rest of the acts, and the actual spots, will be announced... wait for it... wait for it... soon.

Fans have been wondering when we'll find out which cities will actually be the locations of the 2011 Dave Matthews Band Festival tour, one radio station says "soon". According to WRNR in Maryland, the announcement of the locations is coming on February 15. They claim that their "local area date" is in June. That jives with what we've heard regarding Atlantic City.

So I guess we'll find out in a week if it's true. In the mean time, expect more locations to either leak out or get confirmed by a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend in true internet style.

UPDATE: They lied! Much to the chagrin of every DMB fan out there who were constantly refreshing every DMB-related page they could find in hopes of finding an announcement.

After the 1999 Dave and Tim tour, fans wondered if the acoustic duo would ever tour again. The crowds got a bit vociferous at times, and it was pretty clear to anyone who heard a recording from '99 that Dave was melancholy with the persistent song name screaming. A rumor started late in 2002 that Dave would indeed try another small tour of colleges. It came as quite a surprise when the announcement came that Tim would be joining him for a 2003 acoustic tour.
The 2003 Acoustic Tour presented fans with an opportunity to hear some songs for the very first time acoustically; namely the majority of the Busted Stuff album. Also, some of the Everyday songs - which Dave had played solo previously - would now get a flare of Tim added to them, and that's always a good thing. Tickets for the tour were the single toughest to procure for fans; The Warehouse received requests from just about every fan (full disclosure: I was declined for 3 shows), and those who did get tickets considered themselves quite lucky to see what at the time was thought to be perhaps the last Dave and Tim tour ever.

Those looking to hear some of the newer songs played acoustically were not disappointed. Four songs from Everyday were played; although Fool To Think was the only one to make an acoustic debut. The real winner was the Busted Stuff album, with seven songs played. Grey Street, Busted Stuff, and Big Eyed Fish all debuted in acoustic sets on the tour.
Gravedigger from Dave's at-the-time-upcoming solo album continued to be played after first debuting in 2002. Also, Stay Or Leave was officially first played on the acoustic tour (it had a debut in 2002 as a tease). The song Oh also had a tease after getting teased a few times in 2002 as well. A few rarities made their way into sets, notably Blue Water Baboon Farm.

The DMBLive series features a show from the tour, in Boone, NC and features Blue Water, Help Myself, and Grey Street. Another show that was professionally recorded via videotape but not released (yet) was the Purdue University show. Overall, the crowds were much more benign than in past years, and a hit all around. The 2003 tour, especially the crowds, facilitated all the future Dave and Tim shows from that point.

Can you believe it? There are rumors on the interwebs! Since the announcement of the Dave Matthews Band festivals in 2011, fans have been digging around to find the location of the four events will be. So... where are they?

Of course technically we don't know. However, we're not naive enough not to have paid attention to rumors that started after a certain 3-day concert last year in a state named for a President. Almost immediately after the Gorge shows in 2010, fans reported that folks up that way said that DMB would be back in 2011. In fact, there is a certain campground that is really pushing the Labor Day reservations (Do the math).

Additionally, for months, Atlantic City has been a mentioned stop. Numerous fans have pointed out that the City Council has approved a festival in Bader Field in late June. If you read the council agenda pdf (search Bader twice) you may recognize some names that remind you of Charlottesville.

Let just say, in theory, those are correct. Where would the other two locations be? Logically, Chicago would be a location for another one. It is a stronghold for DMB fans, and there have been sprinklings of rumors for locations up that way (from Alpine to Grant Park to Comiskey). That leads everyone thinking another spot would be in the south, DMB's first touring area way back in the day. Race tracks keep popping up in rumors, along with the suddenly-popular West Palm Beach area. Big Cypress, a location where Phish played a 1999 New Years Eve show, has also been bandied about. But at the same time there have been rumors of a show at Giants Stadium too, so one has to wonder if the East Coast will get two festivals, and the south shut out?

But that important thing to remember is that these are all still rumors! DMB and management have changed tours and plans at the last second just about every single year, so before you start dropping down enormous amounts of cash to travel cross-country, just remember that nothing is official until it appears on The Official Site.

The DMBLive series has started up again, and this release takes us back to 1994. 11.26.94 from Ballard, WA is the choice, and it has some hidden gems on there. Get In Line a rare song only played in the fall of 1994. There is also a nice run of Recently>#36>Ants Marching. The hidden gem in the release occurs in One Sweet World. Within the song, LeRoi teases Over The Rainbow. That song also happens to be the first thing Dave heard Roi play back in the late 1980's, and as Dave has told the story before, was the moment that Dave fell in love with Roi's playing.

The Spring 1993 tour began with the departure of the Dave Matthews Band keyboardist and harmonica player, Peter Griesar. His departure happened to coincide with a large tour of the southeast and New York. For most bands, this would result in a major shift of sounds. The band played a few shows with Doug Wanamaker, keyboardist for the band Indecision,
but decided to radically change the sound of the band by going without keys. It is this sound, the "original five" as fans sometimes refer to them, that most fans first heard from DMB.

The band traveled as far south as Athens, GA, and back up north in New York, including a stop at the infamous Wetlands Preserve.
A new song emerged during this time period, #36. Dave says he wrote it in sound check the day the inspiration for the song Chris Hani was killed (which would be April 10, a show, by the way, that is available from DMBLive), however
it did not debut until the 14th.

Losing a crucial member of the band certainly wasn't easy, but the band fine-tuned their sound during the spring of 1993, and continued to spread
the music throughout the southeast. The Spring season wrapped up with a show we first learned about from the book Step Into The Light. It was an odd booking, but not uncommon
for the band back then. DMB performed at a Debutante Party
in the back yard of a house in Lawrenceville, GA.

With the 2011 tour on hiatus, we thought this would be a good time to re-examine some past tours in Dave Matthews Band history. We will periodically add a new tour in throughout the year - as featured at the current tour in tour central . We begin with an oft-overlooked-yet-crucial tour in DMB history; Winter 1995 .

DMB co-headlined the 1995 winter tour with Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The plan was for the two up and coming bands to rotate headlining, with each band playing the role of featured act in their strongholds across the country. The tour began in Burlington, VT, a rather famous show due to a guest spot from Trey Anastasio.

As we said, the plan was for the bands to co-headline. That means that DMB opened some shows. But according to fans in attendance, DMB out-performed Big Head Todd at practically every show. And in certain stops, according to fans at the show, the venue emptied after DMB's set.

As the tour moved into the Midwest, Big Head Todd's stomping ground, DMB continued to shine. The tour continued West, however some changes would be made. The Winter tour featured the last time DMB regularly opened for a band on tour, outside of some spots opening for The Rolling Stones.

The big question, especially for newer members is should I renew my membership toThe Warehouse? For the first-day and 12/98 members, it's a no-brainer (not to rub it in). But what about the rest of you commoners?

We're not one to tell you how to spend your money, unless you're buying antsmarching.org t-shirts (PM to get sum if interested), but if you can scrap together $35, we think it's worth it. Why?

You keep your place in line. Sure, if you only joined last year, it might seem like no big deal dropping out, but people will join up this year, and you will fall behind them.

The Warehouse discs. We know, last years was "OK", and there have been some that left some head-scratching, but overall, the Warehouse discs have been pretty sharp. Think of some of the songs to make one; Blue Water>JTR, Let You Down, Raven, #36, Break Free. We like the odds for this years release being nice.

Tickets. Yes, there is no tour in 2011. But you don't think that's true, and even Stefan doesn't think that's true. Won't you be melancholy if you find out some form of concert (DMB, D+T, Dave solo) is playing in your neck of the woods and you can't find tickets?

It's up to you, the consumer. We're not telling you how to spend your hard-earned cash, but the people behind you in line will certainly appreciate it if you do indeed choose not to renew.

So technically speaking, the last show before the "break" isn't going to be Charlottesville. The Dave Matthews Band Will play a corporate gig for Philip Morris in Dallas December 16 at the new Cowboys stadium. Stefan has been hinting at it on his rather-active twitter for about a week now. Of course some have been critical of the "corporate gig", especially for a cigarette company, but just to play devils advocate, none of us know why they're playing it, or what they're going to do with the money they receive for playing. And DMB has played many corporate gigs in the past; for Outback (which was Butch's last show BTW) and Best Buy to name a few recent ones. So why is this one different?

If anything, this should give fans hope for next year for a few last second gigs here and there.

A new book being written about the Dave Matthews Band is on the horizon. Amazon has listed the book titled So Much to Say: Twenty Years on the Road with Dave Matthews Band- slated for release June 7, 2011. Author Nikki Van Noy has spent the better part of the last year interviewing band members and fans (full disclosure: both Matt and I were interviewed for the book) - there will be a heavy emphasis on the relationship between the band and their fans.

It's still a bit off, and the publisher hasn't given Amazon a cover picture yet, clearly, but this is an indication that the book is almost certainly set to go.

The official site is running a special in December, any purchase from The Store will land you a free download of a Dave Matthews Band live performance. The current download song for the week of December 6 is Drive In Drive Out from 6.19.97 in Holmdel, NJ. The previous free tracks were Stay from the 2007 Virginia Tech Benefit show, and Seven From Citi Field N2.

A new track pops in every week, so if you play your cards right and order often, you can end up with a few tracks.

It's all led to this, the top 10 Dave Matthews Band songs as decided by our eclectic and esteemed panel of voters. We're not going to pretend it's a "set in stone" list, but it gives people a good idea of the general popularity of some songs. The top 10 shouldn't be a shocker, but it's worth noting that two of the top 10 did not receive any first place votes, and the song with the most #1 votes overall is not #1 overall. How can that be? Well, you'll just have to read it for yourself and find out.

Charlottesville Week is upon us! For some of you, it's another trip to the place where the Dave Matthews Band got started. For others, this will be your first journey into the Mecca that is C'ville. You already know about the Official DMB Pre-and Post-Parties, but we wanted to mention a few other places for you to check out!

One of those places is Blenheim Vineyards. The Dave Matthews-Co-Owned winery is all set to accommodate what should be fairly large crowds. They've set up their tasting bar in the cellar, and are debuting two new wines; Painted Red and Painted White. Dave himself designed the labels for the new wines, as he did for the Painted Red 2008 (more on that later). Blenheim is open for tastings from 11 am to 5 pm. The Warehouse members also receive a special discount on the tastings (check your emails from The Warehouse for the double-secret word). That special secret word also gets you a discount at Starr Hill Brewery, home of some awesome beer (you have to try the Northern Lights IPA if you have not, it's that good!). Starr Hill Brewery is open Noon to 6 pm on Friday, and noon to 5 pm on Saturday and Sunday. If you can't make it out to Crozet to Starr Hill, you can visit Brixx Pizza only a mile from JPJ. On Saturday, they'll have buy one get one free pizza's and $2.50 Starr Hill drafts.

So now that you know about all the cool stuff, it's time you figure out where everything else is. You know you want to have your picture taken in front of an empty lot and tell everyone, "Trax used to be there!". Use this map as your guide to find all the famous DMB-related places in C'ville! There's also mentions of other hot spots listed on that page so you can find something to eat or drink while there, so try and check out all the spots while you're there!

We're getting down to the nitty-gritty. Some of the songs have received #1 overall votes, and one song appeared on every ballot turned in by the voters. All the songs are popular, and a few will probably draw gasps for being ranked so low. Take a look at 20-11.

Charlottesville is right around the corner, so it's about time you get your plans straightened out for your time in the Ville. For those of you rolling into town on Thursday November 18, the Official DMB Pre Party with TR3 featuring Tim Reynolds with Joe Lawlor & Friends! is the place to be! The concert takes place at the historic Jefferson Theater (that's the same Jefferson Theater where Dave and Tim played a few times). Doors open at 7 pm. Follow this link for more info on TR3 and purchase advance tickets ($15 now, $18 at the door). If you've never had a chance to see TR3, this is a great opportunity if you're in town. They put on a whale of a show. And Joe Lawlor's band isn't too shabby themselves, so it promises to be an outstanding evening.

The Official DMB AFTER PARTY with TROMBONE SHORTY & Orleans Avenue With The Grits and Gravy Soul and Funk Revue! is right back at the Jefferson the following night, November 19. Doors open at 10 pm for the event, but most of you will probably be heading over after the Dave Matthews Band concert just a bit up the way. Head on over yonder for more info and to pick up your advance tickets ($18 and $20 respectively).

November 9th. Famous for the Remember Two Thingsalbum release party and the Mix 104.1/Antsmarching.org Pre-Party! If you're heading to the November 9th (that's today if you're reading this November 9th) Dave Matthews Band show in Boston, stop by The Greatest Bar and hang out with Cali of Mix 104.1 for DMB music, prizes (including some Ants Swag!), DMB videos playing throughout the bar, and an all-around great time!

If you need more info, check out the page at Mix 104.1! Don't miss out on this opportunity to throw down before the DMB show!

Our good friends at Mix 104.1 are giving you, the greater Boston-area fan, a chance to sit in as interviewer-extraordinaire Cali sits down for a one-on-one with Stefan. The special treat is that fans who are there will have a chance to preview the very first show Dave Matthews Band ever played, the recently discovered 3.14.91. Stefan discovered the tape in October.

The event will take place November 9 at the Ben and Jerry's on Newbury St. To enter the contest (you must be 18 or older to win), follow the link here.

As if the first entry didn't cause enough controversy, 40-31 should add fuel to that fire. One of these songs received a #1 vote overall as best Dave Matthews Band song. Want to know which one? Follow along here

The 2010 Dave Matthews Band tour got underway November 2 in Buffalo, NY. Fans got treated to a post-Halloween Halloween to close the show (it actually replaced The Last Stop according to set list scans). The tour has been anticipated by not only the hard-core fans, but the causal as well, even garnering a writeup in New York Newsday that mentioned Antsmarching.org (you have to be a subscriber to read that, but trust us, it's there).

Speaking of our little site, we are having fans tweet from all of the fall shows to give fans a sense of what's going on right there on stage, so if you don't follow the Ants Twitter, start following! Had you been following along, you would've known that our astute Tweeter noticed Dave switch guitars for the last song, meaning that whatever was there (Last Stop) got replaced.

The Tour continues November 3 (that's tonight if you're reading this on November 3) in Uniondale on Long Island.

The results are in, and naturally we have a quirk right off the bat. How about a 4-way tie for 50? Rather than break the tie myself, we left the four songs together, since it's probably the only time those would be uttered in the same breath.

Before we get to the list, a bit more about our methodology. No, this list certainly isn't perfect. There's a few songs I question without a doubt. And there will be some songs that immediately fans will howl are way too low. But don't forget that our sample included not the everyday internet posting fan; some more casual Dave Matthews Band fans are spread within the poll as well. We were shooting for a higher-educated (in DMB terms) crowd than the average concert, but remembering that not everyone knows or likes the ultra-rare songs. The margin of error is probably much higher than most polls you see out there, but overall, the Top 50 isn't too shabby.

The last four songs that didn't make it into the list were: Too Much, Lover Lay Down, Shake Me Like A Monkey, Baby Blue. And there was a drop off in total votes from the 4-way tie at 50 to the next song. So let the debate begin, read along here for the first installment of the Top 50 DMB songs.

Everyone loves lists. Decades end with best movie and best album lists. Magazines wouldn't even exist without lists (looking at you, Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly). We admit, we're trend followers. Antsmarching.org has put together the top 50 Dave Matthews Band songs. In order.

Throughout the month of November, culminating the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we will reveal the top 50 vote-getters from our esteemed panel of "experts". And no, that doesn't mean the admins and mods of this site. What we did was try and find an accurate representation of the community at large. Voters were "old" (that's 40's in internet lore), young (late teens/early 20's), female, male, non-American, many seen shows, to no seen shows. We also have votes from fans who do not frequent the message boards. Interestingly, the range of songs didn't differ greatly from fan to fan.

We will reveal the first ten, 50-41, Monday, November 1 (the day before the fall tour). And the rest will spill out in 10's until the final 10 the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (November 24 for those that don't live in the Turkey-consuming country of America).

About the list: There are no parameters. The only rule was no covers. Dave solo songs were OK, sound check songs, studio only, Boyd songs, anything. Some people gave specific performances (e.g. #40 yoshi's), others were non-specific. Not everyone will agree with the list, but we're pretty OK with the 50 songs that made the cut.

For those that didn't make the cut? Well, there were some stunners for certain. Like Satellite and Everyday to name two. Check back to see what else didn't make it in November.

Don't forget, Beantown show attendees, the pre-party is on! Stop by The Greatest Bar and join DMB interviewer Cali as he hosts the Mix 104.1/Antsmarching.org pre-party November 9th! DMB Music, prizes, some Antsmarching.org swag, and more DMB fans than you can shake a stick at will be at The Greatest Bar in Boston.

Check out the page at Mix 104.1 for more info, and don't miss out on the event!

Dave Matthews Band finished up a short run in South America, playing to huge crowds in three different countries. Continuing the curveballs they threw all summer, it wasn't just a cookie-cutter tour. The band segued Pantala Naga Pampa into Grey Street, not Rapunzel. That was the first time PNP did not segue into Rapunzel live. We also saw a return of Water/Wine Jam (which they call Water Into Wine, but we go with the traditional name). The last official "tour" until 2012 picks back up in November in Buffalo.

And don't forget, we here at Antsmarching.org are co-hosting a party with our friends at Mix 104.1 in Boston are hosting a pre-party prior to the Beantown shows. Read up here and follow the links for more details.

Dave and Tim also performed for the 25th anniversary of Farm Aid in early October. A fellow Ant was at the event and did a nice write up perspective on the anniversary of the show (including a quote from Dave). Have a read of it here.

But wait... There's more! Don't forget there is still time to Pre-OrderLive In New York City, the next DMB official release. Citi Field night 2, featuring a sharp Proudest Monkey and a partial of Blackjack, making its live debut, is available for pre-order until November 5.

Everyone knew, or thought we knew, that the first Dave Matthews Band show was 4/20/91. That is until Stefan started
tweeting. Is Stefan correct? Is the first DMB show actually March 14, 1991? Can you believe this isn't even the first time this date has been suggested as the first show? Lets take a look at the history of the first DMB show as we thought we knew it, and see if we can determine if Stefan is correct.

And be sure to vote on our poll question located to the right of the page, would you purchase this show, 3/14/91? Vote or diet.

The Warehouse announced the latest release, DMB Live In New York City. The performance is from Citi Field Night 2. The show is pretty sharp; a very nice Proudest Monkey, a Stone segue into Warehouse opener, and the live debut of Blackjack (note it's now 1 word, not 2 as it originally was). The show ends with All Along The Watchtower, with a Good Good Time interpolation in the intro.

There is also a bonus disc; actually two depending if you're a member of the Warehouse or not (and you should be). The Warehouse bonus disc is:

Why I Am

Grey Street

Big Eyed Fish...>

Pantala Naga Pampa ...> Rapunzel

#41

Little Red Bird

Time Bomb...>

So Damn Lucky

Take out the middle 4 songs and you're stuck with the bonus disc for the normal folk. The bonus disc is performances from Night 1 at Citi Field.

Also being offered up is what is now being called Live Trax 19, the aforementioned Live in Rio disc. You can pick up both releases for a mere $29.99. Not too shabby.

Antsmarching.org is partnering up with Mix 104.1 to host a pre-party in Boston November 9! The party will take place at The Greatest Bar in Boston, and will feature tons on giveaways; antsmarching.org swag, Dave Matthews Band CD's, tickets to that evening's show in Boston. Also, DMB DVD's will be playing on the big screens in the bar, and there will be music throughout the bar. DMB music, but you probably guessed that.

The whole shin-dig will be hosted by Cali, famous for his fantastic interviews with members of the band throughout the years. He'll be mixing in some DMB trivia, and general tom foolery to make the entire evening a blast. The event runs from 4p-7p, and is 21+ (sorry youngin's). You can also check the events page at Mix 104.1's website (scroll down to November 9). Keep checking back here and at Mix 104.1's site for more info!

Dave Matthews Band is getting the word out; stop HIV transmissions from mother to child by 2015. The ONE organization has been spreading the word about AIDS for years now, and their current focus is on the transmission of AIDS from mother to child. DMB is fully behind this message. Other celebrities have also facilitated the effort, such as Tim McGraw, Daughtry, Ellen Degeneres, and Ashley Greene to name a few.

Stop on by the ONE official site to learn more about their efforts, and other interests they have.

The 2010 summer touring stats are out, and Dave Matthews Band has turned in an impressive run once again. According to the AP, DMB came in at third on the summer tour, averaging a little over $1.4 m a stop. The average ticket price was $52.64, considerably lower than the top two performers, Paul McCartney and The Eagles.

The listing is actually a week-to-week chart, but with DMB presently being over, along with the majority of the summer tours, this is basically a chart of who did what this summer. Phish came in fifth on the list, and another RLM artist, Tim McGraw, is 12th.

The aforementioned Brazil release is now known; 9.30.08. A listing for the show has a couple of curious items, namely #41 and You Might Die Trying absent from the release (that's the Faixas tab in case your Portuguese is a bit shaky). No word on why they were cut, however, the show was rather lengthy, so perhaps they were vexed to make room for the show on 2 discs.

The set list was actually written by Rodrigo Simas from the great DMB fansite dmbrasil, and is still a pretty nifty show even with a few songs missing. There has been no official announcement from The Official Site yet, so no word on if the show will be available state-side, or if it's a South America only release.

The Dave Matthews Band summer tour is in the books, and with no 2011 tour on tap, lets take a look back at what a summer (and spring) DMB gave fans.

First, the most shocking thing to occur in 2010 was the return of Big Eyed Fish. No one could have predicted 23 plays, and 11 openers this summer. Shake Me Like A Monkey led the way with 44 total plays, followed by Seven. Overall, the top 10 played songs might be one of the more popular with the 'hardcores' than we've seen in a while.

We count teases and partials, so we're calling it 104 different songs this year. Not every song can be a Break For It, Kit Kat Jam, or Lover Lay Down, but overall fans were quite happy to see a vast array of songs return. Easily the most shocking "return" was a debut, the aforementioned Break For It. Although you could make the case for the new fan favorite Blackjack, which we have since learned originated during an early Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King session.

As for tour of the summer? Well, that's up to the individual listener. Popular choices for fans on the boards seems to be Charlotte (what we consider the 'most rare' according to our rarity chart), WPB N1, WPB N2, and Camden N2. In a rarity for most tours, the first show of the year, Hartford, gets a lot of love and has some very nice performances on uncommon songs (Hello Again among them). So The SPAC/Alpine best venue war was for naught.

And also we'd like to say congrats to ants member hbktonyb for dominating the Set List Game. He won the Spring and Summer tour games, so he obviously knows this band way too well.

Don't go wandering off too far before the fall tour, we've got a lot of fun things planned for the upcoming months, so stick around to find out what we have in store!

Our good friends at DMBrasil have facilitated quite the extravaganza in preparation for the arrival of Dave Matthews Band; DMB Week. If your Portuguese is pretty nifty, you can read about it here, for those of you whose Portuguese is limited to the contents of Port Wine, allow me to sum it up:

The festivities began September 16, and run until September 30, featuring seven DMB cover bands in seven different cities. There will be contest give-aways, a viewing of the complete documentary The Road To Big Whiskey, an "Official announcement of a release that will leave the Brazilian fans very happy!" (do the math), and a personal message from a member of DMB to the fans in Brazil (and South America in general).

If you're around in the general area, stop on by one of their gatherings and say 'hi' to Rodrigo and the rest of the crew!

There is a scant few shows left in the summer tour, culminating at Wrigley Field, famous for their goats and Bartman's. According to the tour stats, it's been a remarkable year.

102 different songs have been played so far (counting an improv, which we count). And who would've thought that Big Eyed Fish would be the most common opener, starting off 11 shows. Surprises Kit Kat Jam, JTR, and Busted Stuff all returned from long slumbers, and a few songs popped in for one-shot affairs, such as Beach Ball, The Dreaming Tree, and Lover Lay Down. Not too shabby, and there's still 4 shows to go, plus a fall tour.

But back to the summer happenings, in case you missed it, or don't follow his twitter, Stefan has taken classes at Berklee College Of Music. They were able to sit down with Fonz and talk about a variety of subjects, including their excellent music school. Have a peep here to check it out!

And one more summer-ish event to mention, sort of. A new show has popped up in DMBLive, 2.25.95. The show is best remembered by fans as having the last full band Blue Water Baboon Farm. This is when the band was jam-happy, and most of the songs are a medley. Also of note is an early Proudest Monkey, only the 12th one ever (13 if you count its Route 2 origin), at a time when it was still without lyrics. It's a pretty sharp show, and very indicative of the 1995 early tour.

It wasn't the worst kept secret, and lately, with rumors flying about that there would be no shows in November, I guess you could say it's a surprise. But it is official; The Warehouse announced Dave Matthews Band is touring in November.

This will be the last tour until 2012. The first show is November 2 in Buffalo, NY, and the tour wraps up where it all began 20 years ago, Charlottesville, on November 20. You'll note there are merely 2 shows in C'ville, not the 3 as rumored for, well, for a long time. Of course we here at Antsmarching.org have some plans in store for C'ville, so keep checking back here for more details.

Ticketing for Warehouse members begins September 9, and the public sale beings September 24 (25th for some shows).

In case you've been wavering on heading down to the big easy for a "30 minute TV-taped show", fear not. Dave Matthews Band will be performing not only a television-recorded concert on Thursday in New Orleans, but also an hour or so non-televised performance. If you show up around 4:30 CT in Jackson Square, you should be golden for the free performance.

And there is still time to head on over to 1iota.com and register for the TV event as well.

It's almost the Mecca to Dave Matthews Band fans; the place where people from all over the nation will travel to just to see DMB. There are few non-driving distance venues where you'll find so many East Coast fans in attendance. The Gorge is just the place fans feel they need to see, at least once.

The way we count em, this is DMB's 38th full-band show at the venue (with a few guest spots by Dave along the way with other bands). According to the statsToo Much leads the way with 15 plays at Gorge. Also, #40 has been teased 4 times there, the most for any single venue. Teases seem to happen often; Build You A House and Light Lift Me Up, two very rare ones, have both been teased as well as Dave solo songs Oh and Trouble.

Grannyleads the way with 8 plays as an unreleased (album wise) song, followed by, surprisingly enough, Loving Wings. Cornbread, with 6 plays, will probably have something to say about that this weekend.

This is the 7th straight year of a 3-show run in Gorge, the last time the band did a mere 2 was 2003. Happy camping, everyone!

The Warehouse announced that Dave Matthews will perform at the 25th anniversary of Farm Aid October 2 in Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI. The 25th anniversary show is titled, "Farm Aid 25: Growing Hope for America". Warehouse members can order tickets now for the event.

NBC-TV let it slip that Dave Matthews Band will be performing the NFL Opening Game Kickoff in New Orleans on September 9. The actual performance is free, and will be televised to an extent on NBC prior to the Saints/Vikings game that same evening. Most likely the concert will occur right outside the Superdome, but the official word on where exactly DMB will play hasn't hit the internet yet. Taylor Swift, who of course writes her own songs in case you hadn't heard, is the other performer for the NFL Opening Game Kickoff.

Live Trax 18 is all set, and again the release is from the 1990's. According to The Warehouse, the latest release will be 6.4.96. The set is very solid, in support of Crash, although this was a time before some of the songs were jammed out, so you'll find #41 and Lie In Our Graves checking in around the 7 minute mark. The show also features a very rare full-band Deed Is Done, the first full-band official release of the song. There is also a little jam between Dancing Nancies and Warehouse that is basically the song Rain, although it's in a different time signature.

The mixes on the Live Trax have been very good lately, and this one falls in line with that. We think it might just be the best mix yet. Dave also feels a bit nostalgic during the show, and he mentions the old days of how the band started during the intro to Nancies. He also uses Lie In Our Graves as sort of a PSA to remind people to take chances in life. Overall, it's a very solid show.

In case you missed it, the Dave Matthews Band presale for the South American performances in South America will begin on Saturday, July 17th. The public sale will begin on Tuesday, July 20th. So head on over to the official site and follow the links to get you Carnival on.

But in case your Portuguese isn't what it used to be since the war, you can take a shot at the ole espanol. According to a Chilean newspaper, DMB is heading to Chile as well. In case you're not in Florida or Arizona, that headline translates to "Dave Matthews Band will give their first concert in Chile". The listed date is October 16 at el Movistar Arena. Our friends over at dmbla.com have some more info, so if you have a good English-Spanish translator site, have at it.

And it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that there's an 8 day gap between the Brazil and Chile shows, so, you know what that means... Stay tuned.

It might not be the worst kept tour secret ever, but it's up there. According to The Warehouse, Dave Matthews Band will indeed be playing Wrigley Field in September. The band takes to the Ivy on the 17th and 18th, officially ending their summer tour. Warehouse members can order tickets now, through July 12. The public sale begins July 17.

As in the past for special shows, there is a VIP package available for $275, included in the price is a pre-show buffet. Warehouse members may order 4 tickets per show for the event.

If you've been to a Dave Matthews Band show in 2010, you've probably noticed like last year that the now-famous LoVE sign is still making it's way around from show to show. That is all part of the Matt Wadleigh LoVE Foundation. You may have even spotted Dave or Stefan wearing a pin at a show or two this year. The pins are available from the link above, or you can find them being given out at certain shows this year. The proceeds from any funds generated from the LoVE buttons (or other memorabilia) go to facilitating an award program set up in Matt Wadleigh's name.

According to the foundation's website, "The mission of the Matt Wadleigh LoVE Foundation is to reinforce and foster loving behavior by spreading the message of LoVE and encourage living a life of kindness and generosity by creating events in order to support communities, organizations and individuals that make a tangible difference in people's lives."

So if you see someone at the show with the LoVE sign, give em a 'howdy!' and thank them for spreading the LoVE.

The June 16 show at Verizon Wireless Music Center in Noblesville, IN (that's Deer Creek to you and me) was set for an 8 PM local time start, until the heavens opened. The concert will be heard in full, with a 10 pm local time start. Thanks to both the Verizon Wireless Music Center and the good folks of Noblesville for allowing the show to happen in full.

Just a friendly reminder that Dave Matthews Band hits the stage around 10 pm ET (9 Tennessee time), and will be streamed live at Bonnaroo's YouTube page. So check it out if you can, and if you can't, check out Fuse TV June 17, as we mentioned previously.

And if you need a little DMB to listen to in the mean time, why not mosey over to DMBLive and check out 12.21.92 from The Bayou in Washington, D.C. This is the earliest official release to date (and the second to feature Peter Griesar - the band's original keyboardist) , and also the earliest Christmas Song that we know of. So check it out if you like the old school DMB sound.

Portions of the Dave Matthews Band performance from
Bonnaroo will air on Fuse TV. The play-back is
scheduled for June 17 at 7 pm ET. The entire performance will not be shown, but a few songs or so will air from DMB.

Speaking of Fuse TV, you surely recall those great Documentaries on Fuse TV last year, right? The good people of Italy are going to get a chance to watch them, translated into their mother-tongue. Our good friends at Con-Fusion have facilitated the translation, set to be presented at the National Cinema Museum of Turin. A a photographic exhibition by Sam Erickson will also be displayed; he directed the Fuse Documentary (as you know), and is also a pretty handy photographer. So if you're shroud-viewing on June 26, stop by The Museum and check it out.

Sam is also featured in the latest issue of Buscadero, Italy's premiere music magazine.

Dave Matthews Band is stepping into the realm of music based video gaming. According to businesswire.com, Seven45 Studios will produce a video game with Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews Band and Kid Rock music. The game, titled Power Gig: Rise of the SixString will be available October 2010 on Playstation3 and XBOX game systems (no luck for us Wii'ers).

Like the game title hints, the guitar peripheral is a functioning six-string electric guitar. So it'll be kind of tough, but much more realistic than other guitar games, in theory. The official quote from the Dave Matthews Band sums up the thought process on the game. “We love the thought that fans of ours who’ve never picked up an instrument can now play our music on a real guitar and experience what we love to do day in and day out.”

The official site, powergig.com, offers a bit more explanation of how the guitar works.

You may recall the cattle call a few months back for the making of the video for You And Me, and Ants member Ryan Svendsen was lucky enough to appear in the video. Now that he's done with College, he put together a presentation on how his dream of performing with Dave Matthews Band came true. Check out his presentation here; it's worth the viewing.

Fans wondered aloud (on the message boards) if Dave Matthews Band would give them a little something special for the 2010 tour, given that 2011 is an off year. After one show, the answer is "yes".

JTR, making it's first live appearance since 2006 opened the 2010 summer tour. And that was just the beginning of the songs making a comeback. Hello Again (2005), Kit Kat Jam (2003) and Busted Stuff (full-band 2002) made welcome returns to the set list. Throw in new fan favorites Seven and Shake Me Like A Monkey, and classics like Ants Marching and Dancing Nancies (on which Dave shared lead vocals with the crowd), and you can see why fans are pondering if this is the greatest show to an opening summer tour ever. Oh, and did we mention the debut of a song never performed live (but sound checked many times) by the name of Break For It?

In a run-up to the 2010 tour, mainly focusing on the 2011 break, Dave has revealed a bit about what this pre-break tour may contain. In a Billboard.com interview, Dave reveals that he has, "a few new songs" - but is unsure if any will be ready for this tour. What isn't known is if Dave is counting Hurricane, a song he debuted in Las Vegas last year, as one of those songs.

Dave also is well aware of what no tour in 2011 will mean to the fans. He said that they, "Certainly feel an obligation to the people that support the uniqueness of the band's career and have made it...sort of habitual or a moment of quite a few people's summers, it would be, I guess, ungrateful to not say everything. I wanted to give everyone a long heads-up."

The rumors are true. The Official Site announced that Dave Matthews Band is not touring in 2011. At all. No summer shows, no European shows, no South American shows. It is the first time in 20 years that the band will not be out on the road. The news item explicitly mentions that the band will be returning for the 2012 touring season, so fret not. 2010 will not be the final year for Dave Matthews Band.

We'll be following up on this news in the coming days, including what this means for the band in the long term, as well as covering it heavily in our next Podcast, so stay tuned. And if you haven't purchased those tickets for the 2010 tour yet, hurry.

Our friends at Con Fusion have provided an in-depth look at the 2010 tour from a sort-of back stage look. The review is provided in a variety of languages (English, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and French - check out the full credits here ). Unless you feel like challenging yourself and your advanced language skills, the English version is available here, and provides a nice look into what goes on to put a Dave Matthews Band show together.

Our Italian friends at Con-Fusion had an opportunity to speak with Dave in a one-on-one interview. The interview appears in the April edition of Buscadero, the leading music magazine in Italy.
In case your Italian is limited to memorizing this, they have graciously translated the interview to English (Grazie!) Read a pretty revealing interview from Dave
here.

California picks up its second Live Trax release. According to an email from The Warehouse , Live Trax 17 is 7.6.97 from Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA. The show features an early version of Don't Drink The Water, entitled Leave Me Praying, and David Hidalgo and Steve Berlin (of Los Lobos) guesting on a few songs. Also of note is Daniel Lanois For The Beauty of Wynonna, and the traditional So Much To Say...>Anyone Seen The Bridge...>Too Much segue, but it's changed so much from the early days you may not even remember what it first sounded like.

Fan reaction has been... oh my... positive! Most of the 1997's were similar in set (this was a short tour before the Before These Crowded Streets sessions), but there were quite a few very good shows. This is certainly one of em we think. Pre-Order begins March 30 (that's right now).

In conjunction with the 20th year of the Dave Matthews Band performing as a professional act, a new book is being written to chronicle the relationship between the band and their rabid fan-base. Still Here Dancing, by freelance writer (and DMB Fan and a member of Antsmarching.org!) Nikki Van Noy, "will cover everything from the band’s earliest days and how taping and the community helped propel them forward to key moments of the band’s history through the 2010 summer tour. "

Van Noy has traveled to Europe this year already, and witnessed the fan-base in Europe, hanging out with our friends at Con-Fusion and their awesome green shirts, and she will be around and about this summer at various tours to converse with fans. She might even be at our party in West Palm Beach, in case you needed some extra incentive to show up.

You can find out more about the upcoming book at dmbandus.com. In one of her entry blogs, she has a (long winded) quote from yours truly about the unique relationship between the band and the fans (it's here to save your searching around). There is a link on her website to a facebook page too, so you can friend her, and if she does farmville too, you're one step closer to that coveted bigger farm!

The consecutive years touring in Europe has paid off for the Dave Matthews Band fans across the pond. The Warehouse announced the opening of a NEW ONLINE MERCHANDISE STORE based in Europe. European orders will ship from the United Kingdom, which will expedite the shipping process (and save you folks some Yen! Or whatever you use over there) All orders received prior to Midnight GMT March 7 will receive a 10% discount. Use the code DMB-63K8-3Z1D-T16T to get sum discount(s). You can directly access the Europe store here.

Also, in case you missed it, DMBLive released a new show, 10.24.96 from Austin, Texas. This show is the first multi-track show to be released in the DMBLive series. That's a good thing, mainly because it leads one to believe that if they are willing to release a multi-track recordings from full band show now, surely they'll release more "soon". As with all DMBLive releases, the shows are digitally mastered, which means it's not just dumped into FLAC or MP3, but rather the levels are balanced for each track to make the recording sound equalized.

In case you didn't know how the whole time zone thingie works, yes, the Dave Matthews Band European tour is already underway (this might help the time zone deficient). The tour started as was expected, or at least as it should have been expected. The band played8 songs from Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King, but before you go jumping up and down and screaming "that's what they played all last year", it should be pointed out that Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King is the only album available in Germany. But really, the typical DMB fan on a message board would never jump to conclusions about a tour, especially after only one show, so even pointing all that out seems a bit silly, right?

As you've already seen,
The Official Site dramatically revealed that Dave Matthews Band will perform at BonarooJune 10-13 (a secret not well kept in the internet community; word leaked out weeks ago). But the burning question is, "will there be more shows added?"

According to the
Chicago Sun-Times, there are two more shows coming. Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, is slated to hold two DMB shows. Or, maybe they're not... another website reports that DMB is in the running for 2 shows September 17 and 18, but the competition is between Phish, Paul McCartney, and the DMB. So in other words, don't book that flight to Chicago just yet.

And of course, everyone who lives in the Rockies wants to know if DMB is returning to Colorado. Internet whispers have mentioned the little venue who's name rhymes with "deadsox"; but no publication has mentioned any Colorado dates... yet. So don't get your hopes up too high. Yet.

Dave Matthews Band had a strong showing at The Grammy's, but failed in their effort to pick up Album Of The Year. Taylor Swift, who you may have learned from the 722 references to it, writes her own songs, won the "big" award for Album Of The Year. DMB also lost for "Best Rock Album". Both nominees were for Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King.

... Or "GrooGroo" King, as presenter John Legend called the album. Clearly, the word is pronounced "Grew-Grux", considering it's a tribute to LeRoi Moore, who was referred to as "Grux" by friends. Regardless, DMB did receive high marks for their live performance of "You And Me", with an ensemble group accompanying their performance.

That uproar you heard was from the collective Dave Matthews Band community. After weeks of months and speculation, an email from
The Warehouse formally announced the 2010 Dave Matthews Band summer tour. The tour begins May 28 in Hartford, CT, and runs until September 15 in St. Paul, MN.

The biggest of the big news for the tour is that some locations will have general admission seating toward the front of the stage. This is similar to how most of the 2009 European tour was, and it worked fairly well in Europe. But this is the U.S., of A. so we'll see how well it works out. At the least, it'll cut down on beer runs during slow songs for some, or it'll create a puddle filled, foul smelling area right up front. Regardless, fan reaction is not thrilled right now, but kidding aside, this could make for some lively shows. Time will tell.

The other big news is stadiums. Citi Field, Nationals Stadium, and PNC Park, home of the Mets, Nationals, and Pirates, respectively, all get shows. Clearly, DMB is a National League band. Boise, ID gets a show, the first for the Spud State since 1998. Other notable shows are Alpine over the July 4th holiday (3rd and 4th), The Gorge gets Labor Day weekend (3 shows), and West Palm Beach gets July 30 and 31, where we'll have another Ants party, but more on that later. Like soon.

Dave Matthews Band has contributed a track to the musical compilation Download To Donate To Haiti. The compilation is sponsored by Music For Relief, a non-profit organization dedicated to disasters relief & mitigation, and
100% of funds received will support those affected by the tragic earthquake in Haiti..

DMB donated Typical Situation, from what appears to be 7.5.97 (you can just catch the end of Minarets from the segue to Typical).

This is the important part: You will get the album first, but please don't forget to donate after you download!

The Dave Matthews Band announced via the official site that they are facilitating the relief effort in Haiti. DMB's charity arm, Bama Works will work with many charities in efforts to assist Haiti, both immediately and long term.

To assist the charities that Bama Works will sponsor (among others), you can donate to the following:

The third Dave and Tim live release (CD form) is now available for pre-order. According to an email from The Warehouse, Night 3 from the December Vegas run is the official release. That is the show that features One Sweet World, Little Red Bird, and Lying In The Hands Of God.

For those with Warehouse memberships, you'll receive 4 additional tracks:

#27 (N2)

Spaceman (N1)

The Wayfarer {Tim solo} (N1)

Time Bomb (N1)

The Bonus Discs are in limited supply, so get your order-on STAT.

Additionally... You may recall that Dave and Carter contributed the song Love Of My Life to Santana's Supernatural album. Now, in the 'deluxe edition', the other track they recorded with the guitarist is also available. JTR, listed on the album as Rain Down On Me is listed as one of the tracks. That album is available via Amazon.

Dave Matthews Band has moved two of their shows at the beginning of the European tour to the end of the tour. The Official Site announced that the Opening Sweden and Denmark shows (February 13 & 14) are now March 15 and 14, respectively. If you hold tickets for the original show(s), they are still good for the rescheduled dates; no need to get a new ticket.

The move does however sort-of line up with the alleged Israel dates (a few days after the March rescheduled dates). Of course, the Israeli dates are not confirmed yet.

Is The Dave Matthews Band heading to the Middle East? A few websites, including an Israeli (that's translated to English) site have DMB in Israel on March 18 and 19.

No other confirmation has popped up yet, but with the European tour ending March 12, it is plausible to hop over to Israel and play a few shows. And yes, there is a fan base there to answer your next question.

But before you book that flight to Tel Aviv, wait on an official announcement from the official site. And if the shows are indeed on for Israel, the announcement will happen soon.

Thanks to Ants user AYL123 for the tip!

UPDATE: A source familiar with the overseas tour schedule says that DMB will not be stopping in Israel. So unfortunately this story appears to be untrue.

UPDATE #2:: Just like we said above, the Israel show is officially not happening. The original report has been retracted from the Israeli news source.

The Dave Matthews Band will officially play The Grammy's. The Official Site made it official by announcing that DMB is indeed one of the artists to perform live on January 31 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Traditionally, nominees for the big prize, Album of the Year, are the artists that play live at the event. This is DMB's first nomination in the category. If you're one of those odds-people, DMB is the long shot, currently at 10-1 (that means that if you wager a dollar on DMB, and they win, you win $10). The Grammy people must not like their odds either; in the first promo teasing the Grammy's - which ran during week 17 of the NFL football schedule, the Grammy promo left DMB completely out of the 30 second video. But the Grammy's are pretty good at leaving DMB or their members out of things recently.

No word on what the band will play yet, but yes, we're all hoping for Halloween.

Good news for the European Dave Matthews Band fans. The Brixton DVD is actually Region Free, not Region 1 as it says in most paperwork for the disc.

What that means is for those in Europe on non-NTSC Region 1 DVD players, you can order the disc and have it play on your DVD player without any issue. We have heard that the region issue has been a stickler for European fans, so hopefully this will make your Boxing Day a happy one now (since it's Boxing Day there already).

Thanks to Corsina with the great Con-Fusion Italian DMB fan-site for helping us crack the Region mystery!

The 2009 DVD is now available, Europe 2009 featuring a DVD Night 2 from Brixton Academy in England and the
Lucca, Italy 3-disc show (one of the longest by the Dave Matthews Band in a long time). Considering the length of the Lucca show, and the crowd enthusiasm, and the stellar beauty of the Brixton DVD, you'd think that fans would be pretty fired up for this. No way, Jose, to some.

There seems to be some complaints shared by a vocal minority of fans: Why No blu ray? Why were the interpolations cut? and Why did it take so long to arrive/where is my order?. Let's try and break these down and see if there's a logical explanation for these.

Why No Blu Ray

This seems to be a decision not controlled by DMB or their management. A basic look around shows a dearth of music Blu Ray releases out there. Yes, there are some, but on the whole, it seems that the record industry is slow to embrace Blu Ray. In reality, until Blu Ray players are standard $100 or cheaper, DVD will still be a dominate media. And with more Blu Ray players coming with ethernet or wi-fi, there's no real reason to rush out and get one for $200 if in another year it'll be $100.

Why were the interpolations cut?

I'm no expert on licensing when it comes to music, but I do know that there are differences for visual (TV, DVD, etc) and music license fees. And it's not always just about money. There's a few famous stories about Led Zeppelin not allowing their music to be used in a movie, so it seems that "movie" and "dvd" are probably falling under the same umbrella. Bottom line is that nothing would get cut unless it had to; clearly.

Why did it take so long for my order to arrive/where is my order?

There's this thing called "Snow". It's like rain, only frozen, and lumpy. And when 2 feet of it pile up, it tends to slow things down. Charlottesville was blanketed with a major snow storm the past weekend, and that slowed things down. Management has GUARANTEED Express Shipping to arrive prior to Christmas, but unfortunately with the weather conditions as they were, things got all fouled up. That has to do with it not being readily available in some retail stores. Weather happens.

There seems to be a few smaller complaints, like price, and why do I have to buy it all, but that's really a marketing question, and it's like going to Disney; why do I have to pay $12 for parking when I just paid $80 for a ticket to the park? Because you have to.

Lost in all this complaining, some of it over the top complaining, is this is the best DVD release by the band. Ever. The video is stunning (see, told you), and the directing of Sam Erickson is perfectly in sync with the band and their performance. It's the video that makes you feel as though you're on the stage with the band. Would it be nice if the interpolations (Stairway To Heaven, of note) were left in on the DVD? Of course. Does it really "ruin" the disc? No way.

Today's the day. What day? The day DMB hits the BIG screen! Starting today, December 11th, until next Thursday the 17th, is the 3D Theatrical Release of "Larger than Life... In 3D: Dave Matthews Band, Ben Harper & Relentless7 and Gogol Bordello". Once again in case you missed our past news articles, and you weren't one of the lucky winners we gave advanced screening tickets to, then this is your opportunity to check it out. The film focuses on DMB’s performance at the Austin City Limits Festival this year, and was filmed in 3D. FYI, this release won’t be extended and the film will never be released on DVD or TV so catching it in the theater is the only chance you'll have to see it. It's a unique opportunity to see DMB in the theaters and at the same time feed that DMB-fix. We were lucky enough to attend the advanced screening and can say it's worth going to the film just for the amazing audio. So for those of you that stared at the Sun all week and are chasing black dots, you'll still love it. It's meant to be a concert. Dancing, singing, cheering are encouraged.

To celebrate the release we've scored some limited edition prizes! We have a total of 30 different prizes we are excited to give away. So what are they? Well first 10 grand prizes of 2 Free Tickets to the playing of the film! We will only raffle these of over the weekend because we have to ship them out to the winners right away. It's a great prize for that second viewing, ha. Then, open to enter all week long we also have 20 grand-er prizes, that include "Larger Than Life in 3D" backstage “tour pass”, a limited edition "tour" poster (designed by the same people who design graphics for DMB), and a limited edition t-shirt (size not guaranteed). (See twitter post from a few days ago for larger prize picture.) So head over to the Antsmarching.org & Dave Matthews Band 3D Movie Contest Page to enter! If you want more info and to find theaters that are playing the film, check out the trailer and info on the inconcert3d website.

The DVD release of Night 2 from Brixton Academy is still available for pre-order. This is the second DVD release directed by Sam Erickson, who previously worked on the Radio City Music Hall DVD. Sam also directed and produced the the wildly popular Road To Big Whiskey documentaries that aired on FUSE TV prior to the release of Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King. Antsmarching.org had an opportunity to ask Sam a few questions about the venue, how this is different from other DMB DVD's.

The venue, Brixton Academy, is quite unique, and was a nice reminder of Sam's early days with DMB:

"Brixton Academy is a no brainer for anybody who wants to see a band up close and personal and have that old school prototypical 'rock show' experience. I got to see DMB lots of times like that back in the early/mid 90's but most of the current fan base has not. So I
thought it would be cool to shoot a show in a place where that experience could be
replicated. Since that is basically impossible in the US at this point the Brixton
Academy was an easy choice. So many different bands have played there and recorded live
albums and DVDs there, you can basically feel the rock history oozing off of every beer
stained inch of the place--Clash, UB40, Sex Pistols, The Smiths, The Jam have all rocked
that stage. Seeing DMB there was a thrill for the lucky 5000 attendees, where everyone
feels like they are right on top of the band, and the DVD will be the next best thing to
being there."

It's Sam's insight of the band that facilitated the style of the directing:

"I think my
history with the band and knowledge of the music is reflected in the way the show was
shot and edited. I have been photographing and filming this band since 1994 (starting
with the photos inside UTTAD) and been seeing them play live since 1991. I hope that this
DVD is the truest to the music, with precise coverage of all the sounds happening on the
stage when they are happening. At the same time I wanted to shoot it so the viewer feels
like they are standing on the stage with the band. The coverage of Carter particularly
should be the most spectacular drum coverage anyone has seen in a DMB live shoot. (our emphasis added) So yeah, I am excited about this release because it feels like my history with the band written out in a concert DVD."

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds are slated to play a benefit in 2010. According to an email from The Warehouse, Dave and Tim will perform May 20. 2010 at D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. to benefit Jane Goodall and her Jane Goodall Institute, which does great scientific work in Africa (Click Here for more info)

Tickets are available through The Warehouse beginning December 3 until December 7. The tickets are $95, but don't forget it's a fund-raiser, basically.

Also, you may have noticed that there is a new show in the DMBLive series, 1.27.93. This show has a rich history in the Live Release category. It was slated to be the second live release, after the Red Rocks release. It was eventually scrapped for whatever reason (the most common rumor was it was "too old"), and after briefly considering another show, the ultimate release ended up being Luther College Dave and Tim show. Besides being a hard-to-locate show, the show is also the first official release to feature the band when Peter Greisar was still in the group. If you haven't heard a show with Peter, this DMBLive release is a pretty good example of the typical sound of the band from 1992 to early 1993. Many songs that you're familiar with sound quite different.

The Dave Matthews Band studio efforts have been rewarded. The Grammy's nominated Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King for Album of the Year, and Best Rock Album. You may recall the Grammy's infamous snub of LeRoi Moore, and the backlash they received from it.

But this nomination should not be viewed as a mea culpa by the voters; Big Whiskey was clearly good enough on its own merit to be nominated, and not out of some pity vote. This is the first DMB album to be nominated for Album of the Year. The Grammy's air on CBS January 31, 2010. DMB will most likely be performing that evening as well.

The first official unofficial tour date is out. According to the HullabaLOU official site, Dave Matthews Band will be one of the featured acts for the 3-day festival held at the Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, KY.

DMB will be the last act of the 3-day festival, July 25. The other headliners are Bon Jovi and Kenny Chesney, on the Friday and Saturday shows respectively. Other acts preforming on the same day as DMB are The Steve Miller Band, .38 Special, Kansas, and Loretta Lynn. One time DMB guest Al Green performs on the Saturday show (same as Kenny Chesney). It will only be DMB's 6th show in The Bluegrass State, Dave's 8th overall (counting Dave and Tim shows).

The Dave Matthews Band is returning to television. According to an email from The Warehouse, DMB will preform on November 21 on Saturday Night Live. Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be the guest host. Expect You and Me to be played, since it is the current single. The other song is a toss-up. Singles Funny The Way It Is and Why I Am are the front runners, but with an outside shot would be Shake Me Like A Monkey, the potential fourth single.

Acoustic Guitar Magazine also features Dave on the cover of their December issue. You can read the interview here, and also check out some of the chords from songs from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

The much anticipated European tour dates have been announced. According to an email from The Warehouse. For now, the tour begins February 13 in Stockholm, Sweden and runs until March 12 in Birmingham, England. Stops of note include a show in Scotland, three in Italy, a show in Austria, and, of course, Amsterdam. The Pre-sale via The Warehouse begins on October 20 at approximately 10 am Europe Time(s). Check your local clocks and the Warehouse to get your ordering on. The Public sale begins October 23.

We mention "for now" because you may have noticed a dearth of Western European shows. France, Spain, and Portugal are noticeably absent from the tour listing. It wouldn't floor us if a few more shows were added in those countries to the beginning or end of the tour, but that is by no means a lock to happen. So if you're speaking a Latin-based language (except you, Italy), you better be safe and get that passport up to date and brush up on your Germanic languages.

Also, the eagerly anticipated TV appearance of Dave Matthews and Kenny Chesney will finally happen. According to People magazine, Dave will perform with Chesney on the Country Music Awards show, November 11. The program starts at 8 pm ET on ABC.

Many musicians answered the call for an "epic" video, Dave Matthews Band fans among them. One of them gave us an idea of how it all went down.

Ryan Svendsen is an accomplished trumpet player who has performed with Robert Randolph and The Family Band previously. He is also a big DMB fan (and he's an Ant!). Svendsen actually didn't make the video originally - they had no more room, but after convincing the casting director of his knowledge of DMB, and a cocky claim that he knew every DMB song inside and out, the casting director changed his mind and allowed him in. See, being cocky and knowing your DMB helps!

The Video shoot occurred at an airport hanger at the Santa Monica Airport. The band performed a few takes, with the ensemble meandering in as its seen in the video before a lunch break. Then there were about 80 more takes (!!!) before the director was happy with the shoot.

Ryan did get to meet all of DMB, including a lengthy conversation with Carter and Jeff. When he was 16, he decided that his dream would be to one day perform with DMB. At age 21, he's accomplished his dream.

If you haven't seen the video yet, it's still available at the Official Site. Ryan can be seen at approximately the 3:26 in the center playing trumpet.

Dave has confirmed what everyone has pretty much expected for 2010; Dave Matthews Band is returning to Europe. In an interview with Guitar & Bass, Dave let his German fans know that DMB is planning Two shows in Germany in the Spring of 2010. Clearly, there will be more dates in Europe, and expect the Official Site to make an announcement before the end of the year.

Rather than the traditional end of the tour review, we decided to look back at the entire decade that was the 2000's. It was certainly an up and down decade for DMB, with the lowest of lows for the band. But there were some quite positive spots as well.

Have a look at our rankings, and at the least it'll give you something to complain about until the next tour dates are announced.

DMBLive has added new shows, and they are great ones. The Highlight is April 10, 1993, a show that previously was unknown among trading circles. The show is also the traditional birth of #36. Although it is not played during the show, Dave has said that the band conceived the song the day that Chris Hani was murdered; April 10. The show also features a great Blue Water Baboon Farm, the first full-band in a release.

Another gem is May 10, 1995. This isn't the famed Yoshi's show from earlier that day, but is still a great show. It features Don't Burn The Pig, which debuted earlier that day, and a nice #36.

And you may have noticed around the boards that these shows were 'discovered' a few weeks ago by fans. This is a friendly reminder to wait until the shows are announced (i.e. listed by DMBLive). Any shows prior to that are not ready for purchase for various reasons, like the also-added March 29, 2003 Dave and Tim show. That show leaked last year, but was incomplete. That's why it's important to wait for the shows to make it into the DMBLive listings.

Dave Matthews has taken to blogging. His column is located at ONE.org, an organization that has committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. Among their causes is the important AIDS awareness movement and promotion of drinkable water in Africa.

You can sign up at ONE.org and also learn at that link to contact your government representative and make them aware of what you think about the good things ONE is trying to do.

Utah's theme song is not So Damn Lucky. According to The Official Site the canceled September 1 Dave Matthews Band show will not be rescheduled. Warehouse members will receive a full refund. If you didn't purchase via The Warehouse, Management reminds you to, "please be sure to fill out the contact information form provided at the time your refund is issued so that you may be contacted in the future." That probably means that they'll make it up in some way to you unfortunate people hoping to catch DMB in Utah.

The time has finally arrived, you can now order Live Trax 16, as picked by us here at antsmarching.org, right this very instant. The digital download just a click away (you can order the CD version there too).

Fans are seemingly pleased, with some describing it as the "best mix ever". So don't take our words for it, trust those that have heard it already.

OK, Here's the gist. Yes, Dave Matthews Band will be appearing on the Ellen show on September 16. No, the performance isn't from the LA Zoo. Because of the shear volume of people expected, parking will be at the LA Zoo, and fans will be bussed over to the Ellen show (or next door) for the DMB performance. DMB are slated to preform "a couple" of songs. Hope that clears up the confusion!

It is now reported on Ellen's official site that DMB will perform You and Me, and seemingly only You And Me.

You still have time to Pre-OrderLive Trax 16, 6.26.00 as picked by Antsmarching.org. In case you forgot, the show has one of the best and unique Grey Street's out there, and it's a stellar show from 2000, with the five main members of the band, before Butch and the "Lovely Ladies" joined the 2000 tour. If you pre-order prior to September 11 at 3 pm ET, you'll get your release by September 16.

Also, in case you haven't checked it out, there is a website tribute to LeRoi Moore. The Site features pictures of Roi, and songs featuring the Saxophone great, and there is an opportunity to leave your thoughts about Roi. There is also information about the LeRoi Moore Trust, which provides contributions to great charities, you can read more about it here.

Yes, that was Seven you heard. And Why I Am. The Dave Matthews Band will provide all the music used as lead ins and outs (called Bumps) and other music beds for the ESPN Family of network coverage of College Football in 2009-2010. According to a press release, the music will mainly be from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, although they will use other music as well. For those of you who are long time viewers of College Football on ABC, you've noticed DMB music used in bumps and teases for years, especially Joy Ride. ABC has the National Championship game as well, so expect mass exposure for the boys during that game.

In other non-related DMB news, Starr Hill the great beer out of Charlottesville, VA, makes it's debut today in Orlando, FL. If you happen to live in the general Central Florida area, or anywhere in the greater Southeast for the most part, head on down to the Total Wine in the Colonial Plaza between 4pm and 6 pm and sample some of the great beer, and pick up a case or two. Or three. Starr Hill, you may recall, was a co-sponsor of our after-party in Charlottesville earlier this year, so if you were there, you know how good it is.

Dave's sore throat is just too sore. According to The official site, The September 1 Dave Matthews Band show in Utah is canceled. Unfortunately, this is two years in a row Utah has missed its scheduled show. Dave has a sore throat, and singing won't help it.

The Dave Matthews Band is set to perform on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. A source familiar with the booking schedule for the show says that DMB is booked to perform September 14. That is an off day for the band, right before they fly back to the East Coast to continue their 2009 tour. So it makes sense from that aspect. There is no announcement yet from The official site yet, and as always it's not 'official' until they say so.

Should the booking go as planned, it's a good bet that You And Me will be played. However, Why I Am has risen to #3 on the charts, and is expected to hit #1 on the Triple A charts. So there's still a chance that Why I Am will get a play.

UPDATE: The official site confirmed it via email on September 8. Additionally, Dave will be interviewed on Ellen the following day, which means he'll dance like a maniac when he is introduced, because she likes dancing with her guests. I guess.

UPDATE #2: It appears that DMB will be performing on Ellen, live from the LA Zoo. Insert Shake Me Like A Monkey lame joke here. Or maybe not.

Dave Matthews Band two-plus week break returned with a chance for everyone with an internet connection to check them out. The Outside Lands
was also a webcast, so many people got to see an interesting, and well... interesting show.

From the first song, Why I Am, it was easy to tell that Dave's voice was a bit shot. But that didn't deter the boys from putting out a pretty good show. The most interesting aspect of the show occurred during Jimi Thing. During the portion where one would expect the Sexy M.F. interpolation, two members of The Black Eyed Peas entered the stage and began yelling/rapping/dancing. And if you weren't paying too much attention (like I wasn't), you may have thought someone just ran on the stage and started yelling in the microphone. But that was apparently APL. He and Fergie then did an impromptu rap and dance, with Dave and APL trading dance moves. So depending on your opinion of Black Eyed Peas, it was either pretty cool, interesting, tolerable, or the worst thing to happen to DMB since the creation of Angel.

Lost in the Black Eyed Peas incident is a fantastic All Along The Watchtower and Thank You encore that guest Robert Randolph carried. On Thank You, after the song was basically over, and Dave already started removing his IFB, Robert sparked the crowd to chant the chorus again, and the rest of the band started playing again. It was a unique ending to a pretty good show.

And if you were wondering how Dave's voice could be shot after two weeks off, according to a tweet from Marcus Miller, Dave and Carter recorded some studio work for Herbie Hancock the prior day. That'll do it to ya. The Tour continues August 30 in Fresno.

The restart to the 2009 tour can be seen by anyone who wants to take a look. The Dave Matthews Band's August 29 concert will be webcast. DMB will perform as the last act Saturday night, scheduled for 7:30 pm PT (that's 10:30 here in the real world). The whole streaming concert begins at 2:30 PT (do that math again for your time zone) on the 28th with Built To Spill (of Twin Falls, Idaho fame).

The Dave Matthews Band is getting their collective mugs out in magazine form. Stefan is appearing in Bass Player Magazine, and Dave gives everyone an idea of what he's listening to in the August Oprah Magazine. But Carter is the big winner appearing on the cover of the September issue of Drum!. All are available in finer newsstands near you.

Stefan also has contributed to a worth wild cause; Little Kids Rock Lessard is now Honorary Board Member for the non-profit group that provides instruments to underfunded public schools. You can read a bit more about Fonz here, and you can get involved with Little Kids Rock or just flat-out make a donation. It's tax deductible!

The Screen Actors Guild put out the call for, "musicians in the LA area to take part in an 'epic musical' video for Dave Matthews Band to be aired on MTV and VH1." So you'd certainly think that DMB is preparing a video shoot for their latest single, You and Me. The current single, Why I Am received a live-video release on the internet using video from the Brixton Shows, with some cover from some sites around England, so it seems that Why I Am is out for another video.

The video will be begin videotaping August 31, in the greater Los Angeles area. And wouldn't you know it, DMB is off that day too.

UPDATE: The casting director confirms that the video is for You and Me.

Dave Matthews Band Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is officially Platinum. It took a bit longer than the previous album, Stand Up to reach the million sales plateau, but that's not exactly a measure of its success. Factoring in the economy, and the ease of torrents (you know who you are that downloaded it), and the fact that that the entire album - albeit a different cut - leaked to the internet a week before the release, it's not doing too shabby.

After the catchy You and Me hits the radio airwaves, there will probably be a bump in sales. Meanwhile, Why I Am and Funny The Way It Is are still doing quite respectable on radio. Not sure how Why I Am isn't doing better, but that's for a different news item to tell people to call their radio stations and play the song that is arguably the best song released by DMB since Grey Street.

Lets not forget that Critics liked the album (as we did). So don't think that just because it didn't surpass sales of past albums in the same time frame that this album isn't doing good. Speaking of good, the tour promotion of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, off to great reviews by fans so far, continues August 29 in San Francisco.

Fans often presume that when the Dave Matthews Band enters into a break, as they did following the 8.15.09 show, they will play some epic, face-melting show that will leave fans gasping. And they certainly did that Saturday night.

The reviews tell the story - fans with multiple shows calling this one the "best" or "one of the best" is nothing to take lightly. Boyd was a star front and center, with an incredible jam on Lie In Our Graves, and a great rendition on Crush. The end run of the show featured a medley of Lie In Our Graves, into You And Me, and then followed that with Two Step. It was Two Step that kept fans gasping for air. Carter's drum solo was simply incredible. In fact, Carter didn't even want the song to end; Dave went to the mic to say "thanks and good night", and Carter was still jamming out. The encore switched up, and let Carter dominate the world once again on Halloween - the first ever Halloween for West Palm Beach and the first Florida Halloween since 1995 in Orlando.

The latest Live Trax is ready to go, and it's one near and dear to our hearts. According to the Warehouse, Live Trax 16 is 6.26.00, and the staff at Antsmarching.org had a hand in picking it!

If you attended the Ants After-Party, you heard part of this show playing in the patio of Mono Loco. Among the gems are two versions of Little Thing, Sweet Up And Down, Say Goodbye, a Grey Street with all the verses, and a nice #40 into Digging A Ditch. Add in a sweet Bartender, and One Sweet World with the jam intro, and this is quite a show!

The Pre-order starts now, and the release is September 8. Click here to pre-order Live Trax 16!

Your band is back. From Europe. Dave Matthews Band performed their first show in close to a month in the US on July 18, after a mini-tour promoting Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King in Europe. By the band's admission (at least Stefan's via his twitter), it wasn't the most 'crisp' of shows.

In the realm of venue wars, there is none more hotly debated than SPAC vs. Alpine Valley. Both feature very knowledgeable fans (lots of Ants at the shows - that's why), and they take a lot of pride in saying that their venue produces the best DMB shows. Well, The SPAC-daddies are grinning a grin today. The July 19 show produced two tour debuts, unfortunately they were the unpopular Smooth Rider and Louisiana Bayou. Regardless of your personal views of the songs (or mine), they are seemingly frowned upon by a plurality of fans (just peruse the boards if you don't believe me). Even a review mentions that the very site of the baritone guitar brought a smattering of moans (or boos) from the knowledgeable crowd. On paper, the show doesn't look bad, but shows aren't played on paper; they're played in front of snarky fans that chant "Last Stop" a lot.

Congratulations to ants member frettrickman, the winner of a pair of tickets to see the Dave Matthews Band perform at 10KLF music festival in Detroit Lakes, MN on July 25! The festival runs July 22-25, check out the festival page for the huge list of artists that are performing this year.

If you didn't win, don't fret. There are still tickets available for the festival, including single-day passes for the 25th to see DMB headline that evening. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased from the 10kLF site directly. Our coverage of this great festival hasn't concluded yet - we're expecting an interview with Tim Reynolds on the day of the show (July 25 - from the same guy who did this interview). So Be on the lookout for that as well. Thanks again to everyone who entered the contest!

You may have heard that the shows in London on June 25 & 26 had some boom cameras and a lot of extra lighting. That usually means DVD release. It seems that the first European DVD could be arriving soon. At the very least, there is footage that reportedly is being professionally edited, meaning it would be set for a release of some sort... wait for it... soon.

The shows were the first in Europe in 2009 for the Dave Matthews Band, and this would be the first DVD release from a European show, and the first with material from Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King to appear on an official live release. But as always, wait for official word from the official site before you run out and buy a blu-ray in case it gets a blu-ray release.

It's worth noting that in 2003, a Dave and Tim Show got professionally recorded, but nothing came to fruition from that. So in reality, the video being edited could be for anything - and on the heels of the successful and well-received Fuse Documentaries, a TV special or the video incorporated with other sources for something completely different isn't out of the question.

The Dave Matthews Band is slated for another appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. multible late night listings have DMB performing July 27 at the Ed Sullivan Theater, marking their first appearance in over four years.

So, what song is DMB going to play? You may recall that radio stations got word from their RCA reps that Why I Am would be the second single, and be released July 13. Guess what? Just like everything else associated with Big Whiskey And the GrooGrux King, it got delayed (that's OK, though, because the album is real good). Considering that July 27 is a Monday, and singles drop on Tuesday, it seems like there's a good chance that Why I Am might be the song, and it might be released to radio stations on July 28.

Then again, they could change that all up, and release You and Me, or Shake Me Like A Monkey. Regardless, something will be played July 27.

The Dave Matthews Band is headlining the 10KLF music festival in Detroit Lakes, MN on July 25 and Antsmarching.org is giving you a opportunity to win tickets to the DMB performance!

Follow this link to enter the contest. We'll draw the winner on Friday July 17, so hurry and enter! DMB Performs July 25 (like we said) - the last of the 4-day music festival (that is July 22-25). Tickets for the entire event are $185 - available here. If you can't make all 4 days, single day tickets are available for $85 via the same link. So if you don't win tickets, you can still purchase tickets for the DMB portion of the festival and catch 12+ other bands that day.

Widespread Panic is headlining two-nights (Wednesday and Friday), and Umphrey's McGee is the band playing Saturday right before DMB. Check out the festival page for the huge list of artists that are performing this year.

UPDATE: Just a reminder we're pulling the winner on July 17, so get your entry in if you want a chance to win tickets to the 10klf!.

Relix magazine's interview with the Dave Matthews Band is here, being it's the July issue. In accordance with the release, they have put together a podcast featuring outtakes from their interview with Dave, along with some seldom-heard DMB songs. And unlike most claimed "rare" track listings, this one really is a rare-track-listing.

The over 90-minute podcast features the following songs:

Seek Up - 6/23/93

Heathcliff's Haiku Warriors - 3/23/93

#34 - 3/23/93

Halloween - 12/22/92

Blue Water Baboon Farm - 8/19/93

All Along The Watchtower - 12/30/95

Mother Father - 5/18/01

People People - 8/91 "Granny's Basement" demo

Jimi Thing (jam) - 5/13/92

Pay For What You Get - 5/10/95

Redemption Song - 6/91 "Granny's Basement" demo

So, outside of one song, that's a pretty good listing, and a very good listing when you consider this is a mainstream magazine, and not some fan-site listing of songs.

You can listen to the podcast here - via download. And look for Relix Magazine at your local book provider.

UPDATE: If you're having trouble locating Relix at your local periodical stand, you can easily order the magazine on line. Follow this link and order away!

The Dave Matthews Band paid tribute to the King Of Pop during the European stint of the 2009 tour. Michael Jackson died June 25, and during the following concert by DMB, Dave teased I'll Be There - the Berry Gordy, et. al. penned tune was a number one hit for The Jackson 5 in 1970.

As you probably already know, Dave Matthews Band is performing at the Outside Lands Music
festival as part of a three-day festival August 28-30 - DMB headlines night two. Tickets are available in different packages, from a single day, to a three-day VIP pass.

The Black Eyed Peas and Jason Mraz - both former opening acts for DMB, perform on night two along with a slew of other great bands. Pearl Jam headlines night one, and The Beastie Boys headline night three.

The Dave Matthews Band is heading to Europe, in promotion for Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, but they certainly left a lasting impression on the fans in the US with their last show in the states.

The June 20 at Star Lake outside Pittsburgh, PA was certainly one for the ages. On paper, it looks like the best show in 10 years. Yes, 10 years. But concerts aren't played on paper, they're played in venues, and in front of people watching the setlist on AntsLive!. Fans at the show seem to justify the reaction by those watching the setlist as it appeared. Fan reaction from those at the show justifies it as one of the best shows in a while. Reports of the band sounding sharp, energetic, and having a lot of fun are common themes in describing the show. Our own Joe M, who has now officially seen more DMB shows than Dave Matthews himself in 2009, put it at the top of his list of shows for this year a scant few seconds after Halloween ended the show. And it's no coincidence that there were no Everyday or Stand Up songs either. If you go back to the Hartford show, Night 2, up to the June 21 show, you'll be hard pressed to find a better run by this band in over 12 years. Really.

The European tour begins in London June 25, and runs for about a fortnight (good European term). Then is back in the states for a July 18 show at Alpine.

If you're heading over to Italy, or live there, make sure you head over to the party hosted by our friends at Con-Fusion, the Dave Matthews Band Italian fansite! The good folks over in the motherland will be hosting a party on July 4, in preparation for the July 5 show in Italy.

If your Italian is limited to what you've learned watching The Godfather, don't fret; you can read up on it in English from the official DMB site.

And if you can't make it there, and you're going to be in West Palm Beach for the DMB shows, don't forget about our special at the PGA National. Our Italian friends will be staying there with a bunch of other Ants, and we're already planning a gathering (unofficially) at the Pool the day before the Saturday show, and will do 'something' on Friday and Saturday night after each show. Follow that link for more booking info!

The second single is all set to go from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Radio insiders are letting it be known that Why I Am, the increasingly popular and catchy tune, will be the second single from Dave Matthews Band's latest release. It is slated to hit radio stations in an 'official release' capacity on July 13.

It has received steady play on tour this year - including the stellar Cincinnati show June 16. It is certainly one of the most personal - if not the most personal - songs released to radio by the band. The song will also expose a lot of listeners to search for the back story to who the "GrooGrux King" really is (We'll save you the trouble: It's Roi). An announcement from the official site should arrive "soon".

There's something about Night 2's at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center that brings out the best in Dave Matthews Band. After the 2008 show, considered one of the best from last year (if not the best, no offense to the Alpine-backers), DMB floored everyone at the show and watching on-line with a stunning set June 13.

The debut of Shake Me Like A Monkeythe night before was greeted with so much energy, they decided to go with it as an opener, which grabbed the crowd's attention immediately. Debuting during the show was Dive In, and the first appearances of Typical Situation, The Stone and Song That Jane Likes in 2009.

But that was nothing. How's this for an Encore? #40 - over a minutes worth of it, and then the unusual placement of Granny. That's pretty good, for certain. If you were at the show and started to head toward the exits during All Along The Watchtower, you better have a pretty good excuse. The band shocked the entire free world by closing out with Halloween. So that means that no one can sneak away from a show early anymore during what is assumed to be the last encore song.

There are numerous threads in the boards discussing the greatness that was night 2 at SPAC. And, incidentally, even if I have to walk there, I'm going to SPAC next year. Because clearly, DMB loves SPAC.

Dave Matthews Band can't stop talking about Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. GQ magazine sat down with Dave and asked him a variety of questions (you can see the whole story here), and also, there are some music clips from You and Me and the increasingly popular Why I Am available for your listening pleasures as you read.

Dave talked on a variety of topics he usually doesn't address; among his quotes are, "The life I live is nothing close to regular, and never in my life, until I was in this position, had I ever been accused of being normal."

Night two in Hartford saw the debut of two more songs off the increasingly popular Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. The songs Lying In The Hands of God and You and Me both made their live debuts as the Dave Matthews Band brought the total played from the new album to 9.

If you were following along with AntsLive!, you heard a 30 second or so clip of Lying In The Hands Of God shortly after it was played. To show our gratitude, we at antsmarching.org are going to fire off a few prizes to that lucky person, who drove all the way from New Hampshire just to see the show (and record the video for us!). So keep that in mind the next time you're at a show and see something cool - remember to text or email pictures or videos to live@antsmarching.org, and you never know if you'll receive some random prize for your efforts!

Relix is giving Antsmarching.org an exclusive look at its July issue cover story by Chris Willman ahead of time with extended versions of Dave Matthews' track-by-track commentary of each song from Dave Matthews Band's latest album. We’ll be sharing new track commentary each
weekday for the next two weeks, covering all 13 tracks from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King.

Current Song: You And MeDave: “I wrote that song while I was sitting on a boat with my wife and kids and some friends, writing the lyrics on my iPhone while we went across this lake. It’s a nice goodbye for the record. Because there’s been a lot of dark stuff, I thought that, at the end, it deserved a really straightforward song about hope.”

On June 1, the Dave Matthews Band will take over channel Jam_ON on the pay radio service Sirius XM and bombard it with DMB Programming, The Official Site reports. The programming begins on June 1 at Noon on Sirius channel 17, XM channel 56. All the songs from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King will be played at one point, and every night until June 7 you can hear a recorded live show.

Additionally, DMB will be appearing on the CBS News Sunday Morning TV program May 31. The official RCA site actually lists DMB as "performing" on the show, but we have a hard time believing that DMB will be up that early after the May 30 show at Fenway to go play in New York in the early morning. Regardless, if you don't have a shot at waking up early on a Sunday, at least set your DVR. CBS had camera crews in Charlottesville, VA and interviewed fans for their reaction to the band.

Fans will certainly get their fill of behind-the-scenes material from the Dave Matthews Band in the coming weeks. In addition to the bonus DVD that accompanies Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King in the Super-Deluxe version of the order, FUSE TV is airing a documentary on the band - beginning June 2 (8pm ET).

As it turns out, the man putting that documentary together is someone with some long-standing connections to the band. And he used those connections, plus a treasure trove of material from his 20 years of contact with DMB, to put together what will certainly be the most impressive array of archival footage of the band ever done. Have a read here for a bit more info on the FUSE TV documentary. And yes, there's even a mention of MacHead in it. Really.

The Dave Matthews Band's 2009 Summer Tour kicked off in monsoon-like conditions in Darien Lake May 27, as the band warms up for a long summer tour. The only "new" song - to those familiar with the Spring Tour - was the newly-beloved Time Bomb which received positive reviews from fans after its first live appearance. The three new songs from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King also made their appearance, along with Seven, which debuted late in the Spring Tour, and is quickly improving into a strong song live.

The weather conditions were brutal, Ark-like conditions with heavy rains. During Granny, early in the show, the power actually went out briefly. The show received mixed-reviews so far from fans (it's still early and most of em are still drenched), but the highlights included Robert Randolph playing a song by The Meters, Cissy Strut as an intro into a great Rhyme and Reason. You'll probably notice the dearth of new material; Stefan mentioned that they would ease into the new songs from his Twitter. DMB has an off-day before the tour continues on May 29 at Fenway, home of "Big Papi" David Ortiz, who has exactly 1 more home run than everyone reading this.

In an uncommon move, the Dave Matthews Band has switched dates of some shows for the 2009 summer tour. According to The Warehouse, the previously scheduled Tuesday and Wednesday September 22 and 23 will now take place September 19 and 20 - that's a Saturday and Sunday. The September 19 show in Scranton will now take place the following Wednesday, September 23.

The move gives the band a few extra days between shows - the previous tour date to those is September 13 in Irvine, CA. So maybe they're driving across country and taking the scenic route. Or maybe they'll squeeze in a show somewhere in between now. Regardless, you do not need a new ticket for any of the shows, the original tickets, with the original dates, will be honored.

In the continuing Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hype machine, the Dave Matthews Band will perform on the Jimmy Fallon Show. The bands appearance is scheduled for June 3, according to The Warehouse. The day falls onto a stretch where DMB will be doing various media events to promote their already-well-received follow-up to 2005's Stand Up.

DMB already has a concert at the Beacon Theater on June 1, and a performance on The Today Show on June 5.

UPDATE:

Just a reminder that the Jimmy Fallon appearance is this evening. Fallon mentioned on his Twitter that DMB is doing two songs, and Dave may do sketch. In the morning sound check, DMB performed Funny The Way It Is and Why I Am, so odds are strong that those will be the two songs played during the show.

It seems the bad weather from the last cruise didn't scare off Dave Matthews Band from trying another boating adventure. Muskegon, Michigan's official site reports that DMB will play a private island as part of a three-day cruise, October 23-26 in the Bahamas once again. Bud Light is the sponsor of the cruise, according to the site (they're running a contest there to give away tickets).

The last time DMB tried this, they ran into foul weather (February is known for its storms in the Bahamas) and ended up playing shows on the two cruise ships that transported people to the island. In theory, weather should be better in October.

As always, don't go making plans until the Official Site announces it. Things change (often), so just hold off booking that hotel room down in Ft. Lauderdale until it becomes official.

It's easy to forget that there are people around the world that follow the Dave Matthews Band. We here in the good ole U S of A get tour after tour, while those around the world have to wait - sometimes years - for the band to make an appearance. It may surprise you to know that we at antsmarching.org have registered members from all over the world, Australia, Poland, Germany, Portugal, England, Norway, Denmark just about every other country out there.

Some places are lucky enough to have websites dedicated to their native language to follow DMB, and their run-up to Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Over in Italy, Con-Fusion is the place to be for your DMB news. They also mirror a portion of the site in English in case the only Italian you know is from The Godfather. The big news for them is the upcoming show in Italy. The Italian Con-Fusion site was recently redesigned with the help of Rodrigo Simas, a famous name around the DMB world now. Besides being a hell of a nice guy, he runs DMBrasil.net, another great site for DMB info (helps to know a little Portuguese as well to explore it). While the band was in Rodrigo's stomping ground of South America, Dave let Rodrigo pick the songs for their Rio Show.

And folks from both the Italian and Brazilian sites will be here in the US for shows this summer, so if you spot a Con-Fusion shirt, or a DMBrasil shirt on someone, throw em a "hello" in Italian or Portuguese!

It ranks up there with one of the worst kept secrets of all time; the Dave Matthews Band will play the Beacon Theater on June 1. The New York Times reports the concert is a go, and additionally it will be aired live on Fuse TV in stunning High Definition.

The Beacon only holds about 2800 people, so tickets will be scarce. Additionally, the concert appears to be a fund-raiser for the Bama Works charity - DMB's pet cause. The Official Site has yet to announce this - meaning that the actual method of acquiring tickets is unknown - but expect an announcement "soon".

UPDATE

Tickets are now available via The Warehouse, and the show is indeed a fund-raiser for Bama Works. Tickets will be awarded on a very limited basis. Tickets are only $80, but it'll be a tough one to get! The venue only holds about 2800. The request runs from May 13 through May 18.

Fuse TV is going all-out in its coverage of Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King - first was a dedicated DMB page, and now the Music Channel will air a Four-Part Documentary on the Dave Matthews Band. The special, titled Dave Matthews Band: The Road to Big Whiskey airs Tuesday, June 2 at 8 pm ET and continues at 8 pm ET through Friday, the final episode in the series. The series will re-air each night (or the next day, for you technical folk) at 12:30 am ET.

Crews with Fuse TV have interviewed the band in New Orleans, and followed them on the Spring tour. The camera crew captured live footage from the MSG, Charlottesville , and Las Vegas shows at the very least. So expect some footage from those shows. The interviews with the band are hard-hitting and very personal; the band really opened up to tell what it was like to make Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King to honor their fallen brother. You may recognize some famous places (and some not that famous people) in the Charlottesville section; crews recorded video at the famous Downtown Mall, including the famous Miller's Bar.

Fuse is available on just about every cable system and satellite provider known to man. If for some reason you don't get Fuse TV, you need to either upgrade your cable to beyond basic, call your cable provider to complain, or move.

Rumors have been swirling for a while, and now it seems that someone who should know says it's happening. A listing at RCA Records says that Dave Matthews Band will play the Beacon Theater on June 1. DMB does have an open date on June 1, and RCA should know, being that they're the record label.

The Official Site has yet to announce this performance, so the extent of it - for example if it'll be open to fans, or some sort of limited ticket sale, is unknown.

UPDATE

Guess what got pulled from the RCA site? That's right, this listing. However, if you were to walk up to the Beacon Theater Box Office, they'd tell you that DMB is playing June 1. So until they get the word to hush up, it sure seems that DMB is playing the Beacon on June 1. As an "oh by the way", there is a listing for a May 31 appearance on the CBS Sunday Morning show. Camera crews representing CBS recorded footage from Miller's during the weekend in Charlottesville, and interviewed some fans. So mark your calender for that too.

The hype for Dave Matthews Band's Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King continues to grow. FUSE TV has added a DMB page that allows fans to give feedback on shows, and events. Also, they have a number of music videos from the band, and a link to the interview they did with the band earlier this year.

That interview is part of a larger documentary of sorts that Fuse TV is preparing on DMB. That should hit close to Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King's release. In fact, DMB will be everywhere come late May/Early June, hyping the album to an extent rarely seen from this band. You can expect to see DMB on early morning shows (such as CBS Morning News, who recorded some footage from Miller's in Charlottesville, The Today Show, where DMB will perform live in early June, ABC News, who recorded some of the Night 1 concert in Charlottesville and interviewed fans, and periodicals like Parade Magazine, Relix, and Entertainment Weekly.

It's not like the hype isn't justified; it's been a very long time since DMB has had such a positive response from the fan-base. Of the Five new songs debuted on the spring tour, all have been at the least well-received, and even the one that received the lukest of warm responses was given passing grades on its next performance. Fans even responded well to the radio release - Funny The Way It Is - usually a no-no in the E-Cred department. But that's not without reason either; Radio and Records reports that Funny The Way It Is broke records for most weekly plays - 669 for the week of May 8 in the Triple-A charts. In other words, people are digging it.

DMB wraps up the spring tour May 9th in Vegas, and Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King hits stores and mailboxes (for those of you in the pre-order) June 2.

If you were milling around Grand Central Station early on Sunday morning, May 3, you might have been shocked to see the Dave Matthews Band milling around. With Dave in New York to participate in the Pete Seeger birthday concert, the rest of the band accompanied Dave to shoot a video. No music was played while the band (the 4 members - Dave, Carter, Boyd, and Stefan, not the touring members) got their video on, so to speak. It's easy to assume that it would be for Funny The Way It Is, but that might not be the case. It could be for the second single (originally slated to be Why I Am, but with all the changes that have happened lately, we're not banking on anything). The tour continues May 5 in New Mexico.

UPDATE

It's not exactly a shocker, but antsmarching.org has confirmed that the video shoot is for Funny The Way It Is.

If you missed out on the Dave Matthews Band performance at Jazz Fest, a portion of it will be available via webcast on May 2. AT&T will air some of the DMB show, along with other bands, beginning at 1:45 pm ET. Just follow the link to catch some of DMB's performance.

For once, the rumors are true: Dave Matthews Band is playing Austin City Limits Music Festival. The announcement became official late on April 27, according to official site. Pearl Jam and The Beastie Boys are the other 'top acts' listed, but the entire lineup is fantastic. The event is October 2-4, and tickets are available via the Austin City Limits site for now, but after DMB's official site announces it, there will surely be more options to purchase tickets.

The long-awaited Dave Matthews Band album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King is now available, and there are a few options to choose. The pre-order, from The Official Site, features the regular CD - all 13 tracks from the 1 minute 10 second Grux track that flows into Shake Me Like A Monkey (easily the best opening track on an album since pantala naga pampa into Rapunzel and it may even top that) to the final track Time Bomb a hard-hitting, jaw-dropping, powerful, personal tune; heavy in sound and lyrics. That'll run you a mere $14.99 for the CD, or $9.99 for a digital download.

The CD and a DVD documentary featuring behind the scenes workings of Big Whiskey is $19.99. You can also pick up the Vinyl album (remember those?) for $17.99 - certainly for the collectors out there that are big on the vinyl.

But the big order is Super Deluxe - you get the DVD, photo book, Lithographs featuring artwork by Dave Matthews, and of course the CD with something they're calling "Extra Tracks". And what are these extra tracks, you ask? Antsmarching.org has learned that they will be studio cuts of songs, and one of those songs will be Shotgun. Additionally, if you have heard the Billboard video clip, you surely heard Sister being played. It's not a great leap to put one and one together, and figure that Sister will also make the 'extra tracks'. That will all run you $59.99 (well worth it).
And everyone who participates in the pre-order receives Live Trax 15 from Alpine last year (the disc says both shows, but they only list night one on the official site). The pre-order is available until May 29.

As part of their promotion for Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King the Dave Matthews Band will perform on The Today Show June 5th, according to multiple sources, including billboard. What that means is that DMB will perform live early in the A.M. at Rockefeller Plaza, to fans that can get up and head down to outside the Today Show studios. They'll probably play a few songs, and you can guarantee that they'll be Big Whiskey heavy.

Dave Matthews Band and their management have hosted a few listening parties around the country, to get people familiar with the sound of the latest album, Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King. Antsmarching.org has learned the names of a few of those tracks. Among the songs are the following: Why I Am, Funny The Way It Is, and Shake Me Like a Monkey, according to sources familiar with the listening parties. This brings the total to four counting the previously mentioned Lying In The Hands of God we mentioned previously. No other details were available about the songs (outside of a generic they sound good). These are supposedly final titles for the songs - DMB often uses working titles in the studio. But before you run out and get that Shake Your Monkey tattoo on your back, you might want to wait for an official announcement. During the Before These Crowded Streets sessions, songs had some late changes in song names, so things could change.

UPDATE: Some fans with good ears have pointed out that it sounds like Dave sings "why I am" at the end of the leaked clip that appeared in February. Now, don't forget that on Busted Stuff, the song Raven says "You Never Know" (the song You Never Know actually says "I'll Never Know" on the album version). And Dave is wont to repeat words or phrases in songs. But that does look promising as an identification of that clip as Why I Am.

UPDATE 2.0: According to an upcoming article by Rolling Stone, the previously mentioned Shake Your Monkey is actually Shake Me Like a Monkey. That also works with a Twitter update from December where Dave used the phrase "Shake Me Like A Monkey" (see, told you Dave wasn't just randomly twittering). The article also confirms Dive In as a title (which we can confirm as well), and Time Bomb, Spaceman, and Squirm. They call the album different, with a "new style" for DMB. The last we heard was that the album was closer to Crash than Stand Up, so take that however you'd like.

As Big Whiskey gets ready to pour out to fans, the editors at parade.com, decided to give the Dave Matthews Band fans a bit of a warm up to make sure they were really up to date with their DMB knowledge. In the form of trivia. And you all know we love trivia. So head on over and try out the Dave Matthews Band Quiz, that we had a hand in writing. Just a word of warning, these aren't "lay up" questions... some of them are tough!

The Dave Matthews Band finally dove into the thing they didn't want people to do when they allowed soundboard feeds; selling them.

The first few links have been discovered by fans: 4.26.94 - which you surely knew by reading Tour Centrals entry on the show that it was professionally videotaped (but they're not releasing the video), and 10.22.94. Of the two, 10.22.94 is the gem; the last 4 songs of the set were previously unknown - missing from the common analog tapes out there.

Obviously, this is the tip of the iceberg.

There's a good and bad to this; first, as the example of 10.22.94 shows, there were times when some shows were not completely recorded by fans for whatever reason, and this will get out some shows that were previously not completely available. It could also lead to the hidden gems from 1991 and 1992 that are sitting in a vault in some VHS/DAT/Cassette master form.

On the contrary, these two releases were recorded by fans right from the soundboard - or at least 10.22.94 was. The rule was quite simple; never sell DMB shows. Soundboard feeds were allowed up until 1995, so anything prior to that, in theory, is out there somewhere just waiting to be downloaded for free in pretty much the same condition that it could be purchased.

But time are changing, and this is one way for fans to get their hands on old shows quickly and easily.

Ironically, 4.26.94, available at MP3 - 128kbps for $11.99, MP3 - 256 kbs for $13.99, or FLAC for $15.99, was a free show for fans.

UPDATE: the links to the shows have vanished... for now. Expect them to pop back up after the official announcement from management.